Anita Ogona
The Federal High Court in Abuja has issued an interim injunction restraining the national leadership of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) from appointing a caretaker committee to oversee the party’s affairs in the South-South Zone. The court order, delivered by Hon. Justice J.K. Omotosho.
The suit, marked FHC/ABJ/CS/447/2025, was filed by Alabh George Turnah, representing himself as the Zonal Secretary of the South-South Zone of the PDP and on behalf of the zone’s Zonal Committee members. The defendants in the case are Amb. Iliya Damagun, the PDP, and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC). The plaintiff sought the court’s intervention to prevent the PDP’s national leadership from interfering with the South-South Zonal Committee’s operations, particularly following the re-election of Chief Dan Osi Orbih as Vice Chairman for the South-South Zone during the Calabar meeting.
The court’s order, issued on March 10, 2025, specifically restrains the PDP, its agents, and privies from convening or recognizing any meeting aimed at setting aside the resolutions of the South-South Zonal Committee meetings held in Benin and Calabar. Additionally, the court barred the defendants from taking any steps to undermine the motion on notice filed by the plaintiff on March 6 and 7, 2025, seeking an interlocutory injunction.
This ruling nullifies a press statement released on the same day by Hon. Debo Ologunagba, the National Publicity Secretary of the PDP. In his statement, Ologunagba announced that the PDP’s National Working Committee (NWC) would formally inaugurate the South-South Zonal Caretaker Committee on Thursday, March 13, 2025, at 11 AM at the NEC Hall, PDP National Secretariat, Wadata Plaza, Abuja. According to Ologunagba, the caretaker committee, which assumed office on March 10, 2025.
However, the Federal High Court’s injunction now prevents the planned inauguration and any actions by the PDP to enforce the caretaker committee’s authority, pending the hearing of the motion on notice scheduled for March 18, 2025. Justice Omotosho further directed that the originating processes be served on the defendants through substituted means, either by posting at the PDP’s national office at Wadata Plaza, Wuse Zone 5, Abuja, or by delivering them to any adult staff member at the same address.
The court emphasized the need to protect judicial proceedings, ordering the defendants to refrain from actions that could render the motion nugatory or worthless. The ruling underscores the ongoing internal disputes within the PDP, particularly concerning the leadership and organizational structure of its zonal committees, and sets the stage for further legal proceedings to determine the final outcome of the case.
The plaintiff was represented by Praise Jirgba, while Ibrahim Idris (SAN) and I.P. Nwaogu Esq. appeared for the applicant in the motion. The certified true copy of the court order was signed by Nasiru Oneshi Suberu, Registrar of the Federal High Court, Abuja.
