The Federal High Court in Abuja on Friday dismissed a suit filed by the Makinde-backed Turaki faction of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), seeking to compel the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to recognise its faction on the commission’s official portal.
In a judgment delivered by Justice Ibrahim, the court affirmed Mohammed Abdulrahman as the authentic National Chairman of the PDP and Samuel Anyanwu as the party’s National Secretary.
The court also granted applications filed by six allies of the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, to be joined in the suit, while striking out the PDP as a party to the case.
Those joined in the matter are PDP National Chairman Mohammed Abdulrahman, National Secretary Samuel Anyanwu, National Legal Adviser Adeyemi Ajibade, Imo State PDP Chairman Austin Nwachukwu, George Turnah, and Abraham Amah.
The Makinde-backed Turaki faction had approached the court to compel INEC to recognise it as the legitimate leadership of the PDP.
However, the Wike-aligned faction challenged the competence of the suit, arguing that the plaintiffs lacked the legal standing (locus standi) to institute the action and that the court had no jurisdiction to entertain the matter.
The defendants further maintained that the suit was not authorised by the authentic leadership of the party and sought its withdrawal.
In his ruling, Justice Ibrahim upheld Adeyemi Ajibade as the authentic National Legal Adviser of the PDP and held that he did not authorise the individual claiming to be the party’s Board of Trustees Chairman, Adolphus Wabara, to institute the suit on behalf of the party.
The judge described the action as an abuse of court process, holding that the plaintiffs were attempting to relitigate issues that had already been settled by competent courts.
The judgment effectively denies the Makinde-backed Turaki faction the judicial backing it sought for recognition by INEC, reinforcing the leadership recognised by the court. The ruling also means that candidates who emerged through processes conducted by the Turaki faction, including those who reportedly obtained nomination forms under its platform, remain without official recognition by INEC unless subsequent legal or administrative developments alter their status.
