The Board of Trustees (BoT) of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), led by former Senate President Adolphus Wabara, has filed a suit against the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), seeking official recognition of the party’s interim National Working Committee (NWC). The suit, filed at the Federal High Court in Abuja, asks the court to compel INEC to update its records and publish the names of the interim NWC members forwarded to the commission on May 4.
The plaintiffs in the case include Wabara, former Niger State Governor Muazu Babangida Aliyu, Professor Jerry Gana, Chief Olabode George, Hajiya Maryam Ciroma, Hajiya Zainab Maina, Dame Esther Uduehi, and the PDP. They argued that INEC had failed to recognise the Tanimu Turaki-led interim NWC despite being formally notified by the party’s BoT and National Executive Committee (NEC).
The legal action followed a June 3 Court of Appeal judgment which set aside parts of an earlier Federal High Court ruling in Ibadan that recognised a factional PDP caretaker committee linked to Samuel Anyanwu and allies of FCT Minister Nyesom Wike. The appellate court ruled that the lower court granted reliefs that were not requested by any party in the case.
In an affidavit supporting the suit, Aliyu said key PDP officials, including Anyanwu, were suspended in November 2025 over alleged misconduct and anti-party activities. He added that subsequent judgments by the Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court upheld the suspensions and nullified the PDP national convention held in November 2025, creating what he described as a leadership vacuum within the party.
Aliyu stated that the BoT later constituted an interim NWC to oversee party affairs pending a fresh national convention and officially communicated the development to INEC. He accused the electoral commission of refusing to comply with valid court judgments and recognise the interim leadership, warning that the action undermines the rule of law and internal party stability.
