The internal crisis rocking the African Democratic Congress (ADC) in the Federal Capital Territory took a new legal turn on Friday as the party’s ward executive approached the Federal High Court in Abuja to validate the suspension of Senator Ireti Kingibe.
The lawsuit, filed 48 hours after the senator’s indefinite suspension by the ADC Wuse Ward Executive Committee, seeks to prevent Kingibe from parading herself as a member of the party.
In an originating summons filed by the party’s lawyer, Maxwell Opara, the ADC is asking the court to declare that the Wuse Ward Executive Committee possesses the constitutional authority to discipline and suspend members within its jurisdiction. The party is also seeking a declaration that the senator’s suspension remains “valid and subsisting.”
The plaintiffs in the suit, marked FHC/ABJ/CS/539/2026, are Okezuo Godfrey Kanayo, the Chairman of ADC in Wuse Ward, and Isaiah Ojonugwa Samuel, the ward secretary. They filed the action on behalf of themselves and the Wuse Ward Executive Committee.
Among the key reliefs sought is a court order restraining the National Working Committee (NWC) of the ADC from recognising Kingibe as a party member at any level for the duration of her suspension.
The legal action is predicated on Sections 6(6)(B) and 251 of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended), as well as Article 16 of the ADC constitution.
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