The Federal High Court in Abuja has fixed July 7, 2026, for definite hearing in a suit filed by the Senator Adolphus Wabara-led Board of Trustees of the Peoples Democratic Party against the Independent National Electoral Commission.
Justice Salim Ibrahim fixed the date on Tuesday to enable all parties file and respond to processes already served on them.
The judge held that all pending applications, including applications for joinder and the substantive suit, would be taken together on the next adjourned date.
Justice Ibrahim also ordered all parties to file and serve their processes as agreed by July 6, warning that the court would not entertain any further delay when the matter comes up on July 7.
The suit, marked FHC/ABJ/CS/1159/2026, was filed on June 4 by members of the Wabara-led BoT and the PDP through a team of lawyers led by Chief Chris Uche, SAN.
The plaintiffs are seeking an order compelling INEC to recognise the Kabir Turaki-led interim National Working Committee of the PDP and publish the committee on the commission’s official website.
They are also asking the court to direct INEC to update its records and publish the interim NWC as forwarded to the commission by the plaintiffs and the party’s National Executive Committee.
According to the plaintiffs, the names of members of the Turaki-led interim NWC were forwarded to INEC through letters dated May 4.
Listed as plaintiffs in the suit are former Senate President, Senator Adolphus Wabara; BoT Secretary and former Niger State Governor, Muazu Babangida Aliyu; former Minister of Information, Prof. Jerry Gana; and PDP chieftain, Chief Olabode George.
Others are former Minister of Women Affairs, Hajiya Maryam Ciroma; former Minister of Women Affairs and Social Development, Hajiya Zainab Maina; BoT and NEC member, Dame Esther Uduehi; and the PDP.
INEC is the sole defendant in the suit.
At Tuesday’s proceedings, Kabir Turaki, who was described as the National Chairman of the PDP, and Prof. Jerry Gana were present in court.
When the matter was called, Chief Gordy Uche, SAN, announced appearance for all the plaintiffs, while Mr Sunday Ameh, SAN, also announced appearance for the PDP.
Addressing the court, Uche said he was ready to proceed with the hearing of the matter on the previous adjourned date but was confronted with applications by parties seeking to be joined in the case.
He told the court that he had responded to the applications and was ready for the hearing of the suit.
Uche therefore applied that all pending applications and the substantive suit be taken together, with ruling and judgment delivered in a manner that would save judicial time.
He said the matter was time-bound because of INEC’s timetable for the 2027 general elections and the deadline for submission of candidates’ names.
According to him, INEC had maintained that July 11 for the submission of names of candidates was sacrosanct, adding that political parties had been given access codes for the process.
“They said the submission started yesterday and parties have been given access code and we also need the access code too,” Uche told the court.
He urged counsel in the matter not to oppose the application, describing it as a passionate appeal in view of the electoral timetable.
Counsel for INEC, O. A. Adeyemi, and lawyers representing parties seeking to be joined in the matter did not oppose the application.
Justice Ibrahim subsequently adjourned the matter to July 7 for hearing of all applications and the substantive suit.
The court had earlier, on June 19, ordered accelerated hearing in the matter after the plaintiffs argued that the dispute was time-sensitive.
The suit is one of the latest legal moves arising from the leadership crisis within the PDP.
The plaintiffs are asking the court to declare that INEC is constitutionally bound to enforce and give full effect to decisions of superior courts relating to the party’s leadership structure.
They are relying on the judgment of the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory in the suit between Senator Samuel Anyanwu and Ambassador Umar Damagun and others, delivered on January 12.
They also cited decisions of the Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court, which they said affected the status of the party’s previous leadership structure and upheld the suspension of some former officers of the party.
In an affidavit in support of the originating summons, former Governor Babangida Aliyu alleged that some key PDP officers, including Senator Samuel Anyanwu, Umar Bature, Adeyemi Kamaldeen Ajibade, SAN, and Okechukwu Osuoha, were suspended by the party’s NWC on November 1, 2025, over alleged gross misconduct, anti-party activities and insubordination.
Aliyu also claimed that after the PDP’s November 2025 elective national convention was nullified through court proceedings, the BoT constituted an interim NWC to manage the affairs of the party pending a valid national convention.
He said the composition of the interim NWC was communicated to INEC by the BoT and NEC, but alleged that the commission failed to update its records or accord recognition to the committee.
The plaintiffs described INEC’s alleged refusal to act on the letters and court decisions as a grave affront to the rule of law and the supremacy of the 1999 Constitution.
They are therefore urging the court to compel INEC to accept and give effect to all official correspondences, communications, notices and engagements from the Turaki-led interim NWC.
The post “No Further Delay” — Court Fixes July 7 To Hear Wabara, Others’ Suit Seeking INEC Recognition Of Turaki-Led PDP NWC appeared first on TheNigeriaLawyer.
