A Federal High Court sitting in Abuja on Friday struck out a suit seeking to compel the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to recognise and publish the names of the Kabiru Turaki-led interim National Working Committee (NWC) of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

Justice Salim Ibrahim, who delivered the judgment, held that the plaintiffs, led by Chairman of the PDP Board of Trustees (BoT), Senator Adolphus Wabara, lacked the legal standing (locus standi) to institute the action.

The court consequently struck out the suit for want of jurisdiction after upholding the preliminary objection filed by INEC and similar objections raised by parties that sought to be joined in the case.

The suit was instituted by Wabara alongside former Niger State Governor, Mu'azu Babangida Aliyu, Prof. Jerry Gana, Chief Olabode George, Hajiya Maryam Ciroma, Hajiya Zainab Maina, Dame Esther Uduehi and the PDP.

Filed on June 4 through a legal team led by Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), Chris Uche, the plaintiffs sought an order compelling INEC to update its records and recognise the interim leadership headed by Kabiru Turaki (SAN).

They also asked the court to direct the electoral umpire to publish the names of the factional executives on its official website.

The plaintiffs argued that the names of the members of the Turaki-led interim NWC had been formally forwarded to INEC through letters dated May 4.

According to them, the Electoral Act, the Constitution and the PDP Constitution imposed a duty on INEC to recognise the interim leadership and act on its correspondence.

However, the court rejected the arguments, holding that the plaintiffs failed to establish that INEC had recognised the purported interim National Working Committee or that they possessed the legal authority to institute the action on behalf of the PDP.

Justice Ibrahim further ruled that the plaintiffs lacked the requisite authorisation to sue in the party's name and consequently struck out the PDP as a party in the suit.

Before delivering the substantive judgment, the court granted applications filed by parties aligned with the faction associated with the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, to be joined in the proceedings.

The applicants, led by their National Chairman, Abdulrahman Mohammed, had challenged the jurisdiction of the court, insisting that they represented the authentic leadership of the PDP and arguing that the plaintiffs lacked the legal capacity to institute the case.

Justice Ibrahim agreed that their interests would be directly affected by the outcome of the proceedings and therefore admitted them into the suit.

In its final decision, the court upheld all the preliminary objections and described the suit as an abuse of court process, noting that the plaintiffs were attempting to relitigate issues that had already been determined by various courts.