Federal High Court rules PDP BoT chairman and co-plaintiffs lacked legal standing to compel INEC to recognise Kabiru Turaki-led interim leadership

A Federal High Court on Friday in Abuja dismissed the PDP Interim NWC Suit, ruling that the plaintiffs, led by Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party Board of Trustees, Senator Adolphus Wabara, lacked the legal standing to compel the Independent National Electoral Commission to recognise and publish the Kabiru Turaki-led interim National Working Committee of the party.

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Justice Salim Ibrahim struck out the suit after upholding a preliminary objection filed by INEC, concluding that the court lacked jurisdiction to entertain the matter because the plaintiffs failed to establish the legal basis for instituting the action.

In the ruling, the judge held that the claimants did not demonstrate that INEC had recognised the purported interim National Working Committee or that they possessed the authority to institute the proceedings on behalf of the Peoples Democratic Party.

The court consequently struck out the case for want of jurisdiction.

Justice Ibrahim also sustained similar preliminary objections raised by parties seeking to be joined in the proceedings, agreeing that the plaintiffs had failed to establish the requisite legal standing to pursue the reliefs sought.

At the centre of the dispute was a request asking the court to compel INEC to recognise and publish the Kabiru Turaki-led interim National Working Committee as the leadership of the PDP.

However, the court found that the plaintiffs had not shown that the electoral commission had taken any action recognising the purported interim leadership that would warrant judicial intervention.

The judgment underscores the legal principle that only parties with a demonstrable interest and recognised authority can institute actions on behalf of a political party, particularly in disputes relating to internal leadership and party administration.

The decision comes at a time when the Peoples Democratic Party has continued to grapple with internal leadership disagreements and competing claims over the control of its national structure.

Such disputes have repeatedly found their way before the courts in recent years, reflecting the broader contest for influence within one of Nigeria’s major opposition parties.

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With the suit now struck out, the attempt to secure a judicial order compelling INEC to recognise the Kabiru Turaki-led interim National Working Committee has come to an end unless the plaintiffs choose to challenge the ruling at the appellate court.