Court Dismisses PDP Lawsuit Seeking INEC Recognition of Turaki Faction
A federal high court in Abuja has dismissed a lawsuit brought by members of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) who sought to compel the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to formally recognize the Kabiru Turaki-led interim national working committee (NWC) of the party. Justice Salim Ibrahim, presiding over the matter marked FHC/ABJ/CS/1159/2026, struck out the suit after upholding preliminary objections filed by INEC and the rival PDP faction loyal to Nyesom Wike, the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory.
What the Plaintiffs Sought
The suit was instituted by the Adolphus Wabara-led board of trustees (BoT) of the Turaki faction. Wabara, a former Senate president, filed the action alongside former Niger State Governor Muazu Babangida Aliyu, ex-Information Minister Jerry Gana, former PDP Deputy National Chairman Olabode George, ex-Women Affairs Ministers Maryam Ciroma and Zainab Maina, BoT member Dame Esther Uduehi, and the PDP itself as the eighth plaintiff. The plaintiffs urged the court to order INEC to publish the composition of the Turaki-led interim NWC on its official website, as forwarded to the commission by the party's national executive committee (NEC). They also sought a determination of whether INEC was bound to give effect to various court judgments that arose from the leadership dispute within the PDP.
Why the Court Threw Out the Case
Justice Ibrahim held that the plaintiffs were attempting to revive matters already resolved by other courts, and that the evidence before him demonstrated they had no authority to bring the action in the PDP's name. He found that the PDP national convention held in March 2026, which produced Abdulrahman Mohammed as national chairman alongside other executives backed by Wike, was duly monitored by INEC, rendering the suit an academic exercise, according to The Cable. The judge granted the applications by the Wike-backed faction to be joined to the suit, ruling that its interests would clearly be affected by any outcome. He subsequently struck out the PDP as the eighth plaintiff and dismissed the entire case for want of jurisdiction.
Costs Imposed on Plaintiffs
Invoking section 83(6)(b) of the Electoral Act 2026, the court imposed a cost of N70 million against the plaintiffs in favor of the first to seventh defendants, and separately ordered the plaintiffs' counsel to pay a personal cost of N10 million, as reported by Vanguard.
Jonathan's 2027 Candidacy in Doubt
The dismissal has direct consequences for political decisions previously taken by the Turaki faction. In May 2026, the faction had announced former President Goodluck Jonathan as its presidential candidate for the 2027 general election, following a special national convention held at the PDP's Area 10, Garki office in Abuja. With the court declining to compel INEC to recognize the faction's leadership, the standing of those decisions now faces serious legal uncertainty. INEC's website continues to list Mohammed as the PDP's national chairman.
Parties That Did Not Upload Presidential Candidates
Meanwhile, Legit.ng also reported that a senior INEC official confirmed that three political parties did not upload their presidential and vice-presidential candidates before the portal deadline. APGA, the Wike-led PDP faction, and the Nenadi Usman-led Labour Party faction were the only parties yet to file their candidates on the INEC portal. APC, ADC, and NDC successfully submitted their presidential tickets, though confusion over National Assembly candidates persisted in some states.
