Nigeria’s opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has suffered another legal setback after the Federal High Court sitting in Abuja dismissed a suit filed by the faction loyal to Oyo State Governor Seyi Makinde, seeking to compel the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to recognise its leadership structure.
The court, in a landmark ruling delivered on Friday, affirmed Mohammed Abdulrahman and Samuel Anyanwu as the recognised National Chairman and National Secretary of the PDP, respectively — a decision seen as a major victory for allies of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Minister, Nyesom Wike, in the party’s ongoing leadership crisis.
Justice Ibrahim, who delivered the judgment, also granted the applications of six PDP figures aligned with the Wike camp to join the case, while striking out the name of the PDP from the suit filed by the Makinde-backed Turaki faction.
The Turaki faction had approached the court seeking an order compelling INEC to recognise its leadership and publish the faction’s details on the commission’s official website as the authentic structure of the PDP.
However, the Wike-aligned faction challenged the suit, arguing that the court lacked the jurisdiction to entertain the matter and that the plaintiffs had no legal standing to institute the action.
The PDP National Chairman, Mohammed Abdulrahman, alongside other party officials, subsequently applied to be joined in the case, insisting that the suit was not authorised by the party and should not be used to represent the PDP’s interests.
Those granted joinder by the court include PDP National Chairman Mohammed Abdulrahman, National Secretary Samuel Anyanwu, National Legal Adviser Adeyemi Ajibade, Imo State PDP Chairman Austin Nwachukwu, George Turnah, and Abraham Amah.
The court also recognised Adeyemi Ajibade as the legitimate legal adviser of the PDP, ruling that he did not authorise former Senate President Adolphus Wabara, who presented himself as the party’s Board of Trustees Chairman, to institute the suit on behalf of the party.
In his ruling, Justice Ibrahim described the case as an abuse of court process, stating that the plaintiffs were attempting to revive issues that had already been determined by previous court judgments.
The judgment further means that politicians who obtained nomination forms through the Makinde-backed Turaki faction, including former President Goodluck Jonathan, remain unrecognised by INEC under the disputed PDP structure.
The ruling adds another layer to the deepening internal crisis within Nigeria’s main opposition party, where rival factions have been battling for control of its leadership ahead of future electoral contests.
For Wike and his allies, the judgment represents another significant legal triumph in their efforts to retain influence over the direction and structure of the PDP.
