The Federal High Court, Abuja on Friday, threw out a suit seeking to uphold an indefinite suspension of Ireti Kingibe, the senator representing the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja, by the Wuse Ward chapter of the African Democratic Congress (ADC).
Delivering judgement, Judge Peter Lifu held that issues relating to discipline and suspension within a political party remain the internal affairs of the party and do not require judicial intervention.
Mr Lifu questioned why the same party officials who suspended the senator approached the court to validate their own action.
The judge held that the senator ought to be the one to challenge the disciplinary action if she felt aggrieved.
He said the plaintiffs’ decision to seek judicial endorsement of their action suggested a lack of confidence in their own action.
Mr Lifu subsequently described the suit as frivolous, baseless and unfounded.
Invoking Sections 82 and 83 of the Electoral Act, the judge awarded a cost of N10 million against the plaintiffs in favour of Mrs Kingibe.
He also imposed an additional N10 million fine on the plaintiffs’ counsel for filing what he described as a frivolous suit, with the sum equally payable to the senator.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Mrs Kingibe was allegedly suspended on 10 March by the Wuse Ward executives.
The executive members said they were suspending her for alleged anti-party activities and disregard for the ADC constitution.
The suspension was said to have been ratified by two-thirds of the ward leadership.
The plaintiffs, Okezuo Kanayo and Isaiah Samuel, instituted the action in the suit marked FHC/ABJ/CV/539/2026 on behalf of themselves and other ward members, with Mrs Kingibe listed as the sole defendant.
Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), Kolawole Olowookere, filed the suit on behalf of the plaintiffs, seeking an interim injunction restraining the senator from parading herself as an ADC member while under suspension.
The plaintiffs also urged the court to restrain her from attending party meetings, performing functions reserved for ADC members, or representing the party in any capacity.
They further asked the court to stop the senator from interfering in the administration of the ward, including access to the ward register and other official activities.
They argued that she was suspended for alleged anti-party activities, gross misconduct and confiscation of statutory ward records.
According to them, the suspension followed due process as stipulated in the ADC constitution and was ratified by a two-thirds majority of the executive members.
The plaintiffs also alleged that despite being notified of her suspension, Kingibe continued to hold parallel meetings.
They said she also continued to issue statements as an ADC member and allegedly used security personnel to intimidate members of the ward executive.
NAN further reports that at the last adjourned date, Mrs Kingibe’s counsel, Marshal Abubakar, told the court that the case lacked merit because it was purely an internal affair of the party.
Mr Abubakar held that the case ought to be dismissed with punitive costs.
He said the party had a procedure for addressing cases such as the one brought to court, which, according to him, the plaintiffs failed to comply with.
“The defendant was never invited for anything nor was there any complaint against her,” he said.
He added that the plaintiffs had no locus to institute the suit as they were themselves suspended by the party.
The lawyer prayed the court to dismiss the matter in its entirety and award a N25 million punitive cost against the plaintiffs.
The plaintiffs’ lawyer, I.G Ogugua, prayed the court to dismiss the defendant’s arguments.
Mr Ogugua said that there was nothing sacrosanct about the internal affairs of a political party where the constitution was breached.
Mrs Kingibe, who was elected in 2023 on the Labour Party platform to represent the FCT in the Senate, defected to the ADC last year.
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She joined the defection spree of politicians from the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) and opposition parties, including the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the Labour Party, into the ADC.
Those who left the APC for the ADC were mainly the people who lost out in the prevailing power equation within the party following President Bola Tinubu’s emergence as Nigeria’s president in 2023.
The defection of others from the opposition parties were driven by the instability created by the protracted leadership disputes in their former parties or simply their quests for political realignments ahead of the 2027 general elections.
(NAN)