Court Fines PDP Leaders N140m Over Frivolous Lawsuit

The Federal High Court in Abuja has fined the Adolphus Wabara-led Board of Trustees of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) N140 million. This fine comes after they filed a pointless suit against the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and others.

Justice Salim Ibrahim ruled on Friday, saying the lawsuit was “an abuse of court process, unmeritorious and lacking in merit.” He agreed with the defendants’ arguments that “cost follows event.” He added that the fine aligns with Section 83(6)(b) of the Electoral Act, 2026.

The judge also ordered Chris Uche, the lawyer for the plaintiffs, to pay N10 million. This is to discourage the filing of frivolous suits that involve the internal matters of political parties.

News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that members of the Wabara-led Board of Trustees filed this new suit. They wanted the court to order INEC to recognize the PDP interim National Working Committee (NWC) faction led by Kabiru Turaki on its official website and elsewhere.

The plaintiffs claimed they sent the names of the Kabiru Turaki-led NWC to INEC in letters dated 4 May. The originating summons, labeled: FHC/ABJ/CS/1159/2026, was filed on 4 June by a group of lawyers led by Chris Uche.

The plaintiffs in this case include ex-Senate President Adolphus Wabara; BoT Secretary and former Governor Babangida Aliyu of Niger; ex-Minister of Information Jerry Gana; and PDP chieftain Olabode George as the 1st to 4th plaintiffs. Other plaintiffs are former Minister of Women Affairs, Maryam Ciroma; ex-Minister of Women Affairs and Social Development, Zainab Maina; BoT and NEC member, Esther Uduehi; and the PDP as the 5th to 8th plaintiffs.

They named INEC as the sole defendant in the suit. A faction of the PDP loyal to the Minister of FCT, Nyesom Wike, challenged the court's authority to hear the case.

Even though Mr Uche announced he was representing the first to eighth plaintiffs, another lawyer, Sunday Ameh, representing Wike’s faction, also claimed to represent the eighth plaintiff (PDP). The Wike-backed PDP executives, including National Chairman Mohammed Abdulrahman, National Secretary Samuel Anyanwu, and National Legal Adviser Kamardeen Ajibade, wanted to be included as 2nd, 3rd, and 4th defendants.

They were represented in court by Emmanuel Ukala, while Joseph Daudu appeared for Imo PDP chairman Austin Nwachukwu, Abraham Amah, and Goerge Turner, who wanted to join as 5th to 7th defendants. They asked the court to dismiss the suit completely.

In addition to the joinder issues, all defendants, including INEC, filed preliminary objections. They wanted the court to dismiss the case, arguing it was an abuse of court process and incompetent.

Mr Ameh, who also represented the 8th plaintiff (PDP), argued that the PDP should not be a plaintiff because it did not authorize Mr Uche to file the suit. He filed a notice of change of counsel and a motion to remove PDP's name from the suit.

Mr Uche opposed Ameh’s application. He urged the court to reject the application as it was misguided and pointless. He also asked the court to dismiss the change of counsel application.

In delivering the judgment, Justice Ibrahim supported Mr Ameh’s argument that the Wabara-led BoT had no legal right to file the suit on behalf of the PDP. The judge struck out PDP's name as the 8th plaintiff, agreeing the first to seventh plaintiffs had no authority to include PDP in the case.

The judge also agreed to the applications for joinder from those wanting to be included in the suit. He ordered that Abdulrahman, Anyanwu, Ajibade, Nwachukwu, Amah, and Turner be added as second to seventh defendants.

Regarding the preliminary objections filed by INEC, the judge agreed that the court did not have the authority to handle the suit, which dealt with the internal affairs of a political party. He upheld the objections from the second to seventh defendants, saying they succeeded because he struck out PDP's name as the 8th plaintiff.

On the main suit, Justice Ibrahim stated that the plaintiffs did not prove their case. He confirmed the leadership of the Abdulrahman-led PDP faction, which is loyal to the FCT minister. He ruled that the reliefs sought by the plaintiffs could not be granted. The judge noted that previous court rulings, including one by Justice Joyce Abdulmalik, had confirmed the Abdulrahman-led leadership and allowed it access to the party's national office. The judge added that the March convention that led to the current leaders of the Wike faction followed a valid court judgment that had not been overturned. He concluded that filing this suit was like trying to relitigate a case that had already been resolved.