The Federal Excessive Courtroom in Abuja has mounted January twenty third 2025, for the listening to of an software for keep of additional proceedings filed by the Kabiru Turaki-led Peoples Democratic Social gathering, towards a swimsuit instituted by the faction aligned with the FCT Minister, Nyesom Wike.
Justice Joyce Abdulmalik adjourned the matter on Wednesday to allow counsel for the plaintiffs, Onyechi Ikpeazu, reply to the keep software.
The Wike-led PDP, by means of its appearing Nationwide Chairman, Mohammed Abdulrahman and factional Nationwide Secretary, Samuel Anyanwu, had filed the swimsuit marked FHC/ABJ/CS/2501/2025.
They’re in search of an order restraining the Turaki-led management, listed as fifth to twenty fifth defendants, from parading themselves as representatives of the PDP and stopping the police and the Division of State Companies from permitting them entry to the celebration’s nationwide secretariat at Wadata Plaza, Abuja.
The plaintiffs additionally requested the court docket to restrain the Unbiased Nationwide Electoral Fee from accepting any workplace tackle from the Turaki faction aside from the one already in its data, and to declare that INEC, the police and the DSS are certain to implement earlier judgments and rulings delivered by Justices James Omotosho and Peter Lifu.
Justice Abdulmalik had earlier granted an ex-parte order directing events to not take any step pending the dedication of the swimsuit.
The Turaki-led PDP appealed the choice and filed a movement for keep of proceedings, in addition to a movement on discover asking the choose to recuse herself on grounds of alleged bias.
When the case got here up on Wednesday, Ikpeazu mentioned the court docket had earlier dominated that every one pending functions could be taken along with the substantive swimsuit and that the plaintiffs had been able to proceed.
However counsel to the Turaki faction, Chief Chris Uche, mentioned they’d filed an attraction towards the ex-parte order, which had been entered on the Courtroom of Enchantment as CA/ABJ/CV/1770/2025.
“We filed an attraction towards my lord’s resolution and we’ve got an obligation to report back to your lordship that that attraction has now been entered within the Courtroom of Enchantment numbered: CA/ABJ/CV/1770/2025.
“We have now additionally filed an affidavit of information of getting into the attraction with a purpose to deliver to your information the entry of the attraction.
“Information have been totally transmitted and the plaintiffs are very a lot conscious and have taken steps to file processes within the attraction,” he mentioned.
Uche argued that after an attraction has been entered, the trial court docket ought to stop additional proceedings, citing Secondus vs. Ibaochi Alex, and urged the court docket to remain proceedings and adjourn the matter sine die.
Ikpeazu countered that an attraction doesn’t routinely translate to a keep.
“By advantage of Order 4, Guidelines 11(2) of the Courtroom of Enchantment guidelines, Sub. 1 offers for a foundation for the applying they’ve simply made however Sub. 2 limits the scope of the Sub. 1,” he mentioned, including that the attraction was towards an interlocutory resolution.
“The underside line is the attraction is towards the interlocutory resolution of my lord,” he mentioned.
Justice Abdulmalik requested if he had been served with the keep movement.
“We had been served very late yesterday, my lord,” Ikpeazu replied.
The choose directed him to file a proper response and adjourned the case to January twenty third for the listening to of the keep software.
Within the recusal movement, Uche urged the choose to withdraw from the case and remit the file to the Chief Choose for reassignment, arguing that the defendants had petitioned the Chief Choose towards assigning PDP inside dispute instances to Justice Abdulmalik and two different judges because of perceived partisanship.
He alleged that though the swimsuit was filed on Nov. 21, 2025, the choose made an ex-parte order on Nov. 25 “in a format and template that was curious and in alliance with the format and template utilised by Hon. Justice Omotosho of the identical court docket towards the defendants,” including that the orders had been made with out actual urgency and touched on the substance of the swimsuit.
Talking with pressmen after the listening to, the Nationwide Publicity Secretary of the PDP Nationwide Working Caretaker Committee, Jungudo Mohammed, expressed hopes that the court docket will grant the plaintiffs’ request, on the grounds of two earlier judgments of the Federal Excessive Courtroom.
“As you might be conscious, beforehand, there have been two closing judgments of the federal excessive court docket stopping any deliberate conference in Oyo. Sadly, some recalcitrant members of the celebration went forward and performed that conference.
“The principle substantive subject right here is that we’re praying the court docket to limit these folks parading themselves as nationwide officers of the celebration.
“And, , on the power of the 2 earlier federal excessive court docket judgments, I really don’t need to preempt what the court docket will say, however your guess is pretty much as good as mine,” he mentioned.