The Court of Appeal has dismissed an appeal filed by the factional Board of Trustees (BoT) of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), led by former Senate President Adolphus Wabara, challenging the party’s leadership crisis.
The appellate court, in a unanimous decision by a three-member panel, upheld the July 17 judgment of the Federal High Court in Abuja, which dismissed the suit filed by the Wabara-led group for lack of jurisdiction.
In its lead judgment delivered by Justice R. O. Ayoola, the court held that the appellants lacked the legal standing to institute the action on behalf of the PDP.
The suit sought to validate actions taken by the Tanimu Turaki-led faction of the party, including its national convention, which subsequently announced former President Goodluck Jonathan as its consensus presidential candidate for the 2027 general election.
The appellate court also struck out the PDP’s name as the eighth appellant, describing the appeal as academic and an abuse of judicial process.
Consequently, the court affirmed the lower court’s decision, including its N70 million cost award against the appellants.
It further awarded an additional N20 million in costs, comprising N5 million each to the first respondent, the second to fourth respondents jointly, and the fifth to seventh respondents jointly.
The original suit was filed by Wabara and other PDP chieftains, including former Niger State Governor Muazu Babangida Aliyu, former Information Minister Jerry Gana, Olabode George, Maryam Ciroma, Zainab Maina and Esther Uduehi.
They had asked the court to compel the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to recognise and update its records with the names of the Turaki-led interim National Working Committee (NWC), which they said had been forwarded to the commission by the party’s National Executive Committee.
However, the faction aligned with the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, challenged the suit, arguing that the plaintiffs lacked the legal right to institute the action and that the court lacked jurisdiction to entertain it.
The Wike-backed faction, led by National Chairman Abdulrahman Mohammed, also sought to be joined in the case, claiming to be the authentic leadership of the party following its March 29 and 30 convention.
In its July 17 judgment, the Federal High Court upheld the preliminary objections, holding that the suit was an abuse of court process and an attempt to reopen issues already determined by other courts.
The court also held that the plaintiffs failed to establish that the interim committee had the legal authority to communicate with INEC on behalf of the party.
Dissatisfied with the judgment, the Wabara-led group approached the Court of Appeal, which dismissed the appeal and affirmed the lower court’s decision.