The Federal High Court in Abuja on Friday adjourned a trial by a faction of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) loyal to the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Minister, Nyesom Wike, to February 20 pending the outcome of an appeal before the Court of Appeal.
Justice Joyce Abdulmalik adjourned the case following an appeal filed by the Kabiru Turaki-led leadership of the PDP challenging the interim order directing all parties to maintain status quo until the determination of the original trial.
The suit was filed by the PDP faction linked to the FCT minister and led by its acting national chairman, Alhaji Mohammed Abdulrahman.
In the suit, the PDP, Abdulrahman and the National Secretary of the faction, Senator Samuel Anyanwu, sought an order to stop the Nigeria Police Force and the Department of State Services (DSS) from providing the Turaki-led leadership access to the party's National Secretariat at Wadata Plaza, Abuja.
He also asked the court to stop the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) from recognizing or accepting any address presented by the Turaki-led faction as the official office address of the PDP other than the address already on the records of INEC.
Additionally, the plaintiff sought an injunction restraining the Turaki-led leadership from presenting themselves as officials or representatives of the PDP in any capacity.
Justice Abdulmalik had earlier passed an ex-parte order directing all parties to refrain from taking any action pending the hearing and decision of the case.
Dissatisfied with the order, the Turaki-led faction approached the appeal court and also filed an application seeking a stay on the proceedings in the Federal High Court until the appellate court's decision. He applied to Justice Abdulmalik to recuse himself from the case, citing alleged bias in his handling of the case.
At the resumed hearing, the judge considered that it would be futile to pursue the case further, given that an appeal had already been lodged with the Court of Appeal, and consequently adjourned the case to 20 February for a report on the appeal.
In a related development, Justice Abdulmalik dismissed another suit filed by the Turaki-led PDP leadership after their lawyer, Chief Chris Uche, SAN, applied to strike it out. The judge dismissed the suit on the grounds that all parties had already settled on the issues.
The suit, marked FHC/ABJ/CS/2520/2025, was filed by the PDP, its National Chairman, Kabiru Turaki and National Secretary, Taofeeq Arapaja, against the Inspector General of Police and the Nigeria Police Force, seeking an order directing police officers to vacate the PDP National Secretariat at Wadata Plaza, among other reliefs.
The court had earlier impleaded Wike-aligned PDP officials including Abdulrahman, Anyanwu and party board of trustees chairman Sen. Mao Ohuabunwa as parties to the suit.
