The Federal High Court in Abuja has dismissed a suit filed by the Oyo State governor Seyi Makinde-backed Turaki faction of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), which sought to compel the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to recognise its faction on the commission’s official website.
In its judgment, the court affirmed the FCT minister Nyesom Wike’s group led by Mohammed Abdulrahman and Samuel Anyanwu as the authentic National Chairman and National Secretary of the PDP, respectively.
The court also granted applications by six allies of the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, to be joined in the suit, while striking out the PDP as a party in the case filed by the Makinde-backed Turaki faction.
The Wike-aligned faction had challenged the court’s jurisdiction, arguing that the plaintiffs lacked the legal standing (locus standi) to institute the suit and that the court had no jurisdiction to grant the reliefs sought.
Following their joinder, PDP National Chairman Mohammed Abdulrahman, National Secretary Samuel Anyanwu, National Legal Adviser Adeyemi Ajibade, Imo PDP Chairman Austin Nwachukwu, George Turnah, and Abraham Amah successfully argued that the suit was not authorised by the party and should be withdrawn.
The court further upheld Adeyemi Ajibade as the authentic National Legal Adviser of the PDP, ruling 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.
Delivering the judgment, Justice Ibrahim held that the suit constituted an abuse of court process, noting that it sought to revive issues that had already been conclusively determined by various courts.
The ruling effectively means that all candidates who obtained nomination forms under the Makinde-backed Turaki faction of the PDP, including former President Goodluck Jonathan, remain unrecognised by INEC.