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PDP Crisis: Wabara, Babangida Aliyu, Jerry Gana, others approaches court , seek recognition

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The Board of Trustees (BoT) of the factional Peoples Democratic Party, led by Adolphus Wabara, has instituted a suit against the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), seeking recognition of the party’s interim National Working Committee (NWC).

plaintiffs in the suit marked FHC/ABJ/CS/1159/2026 and filed on June 4 at the Federal High Court, Abuja, are requesting the court to compel INEC to update its records and publish on its official website the names of the interim NWC members forwarded to the commission by the PDP’s BoT and National Executive Committee (NEC).

The plaintiffs include Wabara, former Niger State Governor Muazu Babangida Aliyu, former Information Minister Jerry Gana, PDP chieftain Olabode George, former ministers Maryam Ciroma and Zainab Maina, as well as BoT member Esther Uduehi. INEC is the sole defendant in the suit.

The legal action comes days after the Court of Appeal set aside key aspects of a Federal High Court judgment delivered in Ibadan that had recognised a factional caretaker committee within the PDP.

In a unanimous judgment delivered on June 3, the appellate court held that the trial court granted reliefs that were not sought by any of the parties in the dispute arising from the PDP leadership crisis. The court faulted the lower court for going beyond the issues presented before it.

The plaintiffs are seeking declarations that INEC is constitutionally bound to enforce and give effect to several court judgments, including decisions of the Federal Capital Territory High Court, the Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court of Nigeria, relating to the party’s leadership dispute.

They are also asking the court to direct INEC to accept and act on all official communications, notices and engagements from the interim NWC constituted by the PDP’s BoT and NEC.

In an affidavit supporting the suit, Aliyu stated that several key party officials, including former National Secretary Samuel Anyanwu, were suspended by the party’s NWC in November 2025 over allegations of misconduct, anti-party activities and insubordination.

According to him, the suspensions were upheld through subsequent court proceedings, while judicial decisions also nullified the PDP’s national convention held in November 2025.

Aliyu said that following the judgments, which created vacancies in the party’s leadership structure, the BoT constituted an interim NWC to oversee the affairs of the PDP pending the conduct of a valid national convention.

He stated that details of the interim NWC and subsequent portfolio assignments were communicated to INEC through letters sent in May 2026. However, he alleged that the commission had failed to update its records or accord recognition to the committee despite receiving the correspondence.

Aliyu argued that INEC has a constitutional obligation to comply with valid and subsisting court judgments and urged the court to compel the commission to recognise the interim leadership structure.