A Federal High Court sitting in Abuja has dismissed a suit that sought to compel the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to recognise and publish the Kabiru Turaki-led interim National Working Committee (NWC) of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
In a ruling delivered on Friday, Justice Salim Ibrahim held that the plaintiffs, led by the Chairman of the PDP Board of Trustees, Senator Adolphus Wabara, lacked the legal capacity to institute the action.
The judge consequently struck out the suit, ruling that the court had no jurisdiction to entertain the matter because the plaintiffs failed to establish the legal standing required to pursue the case.
Justice Ibrahim also upheld the preliminary objection filed by INEC, while sustaining similar objections raised by parties seeking to be joined in the proceedings.
The court further ruled that the plaintiffs did not demonstrate that INEC had recognised the purported interim National Working Committee or that they possessed the authority to institute the action on behalf of the PDP.
The dismissal effectively ends, for now, the attempt to secure a court order directing the electoral commission to accord official recognition to the Turaki-led interim leadership of the opposition party.
