By Nchetachi Chukwuajah
The Federal High Court in Abuja has fixed January 23 for the hearing of an application for stay of further proceedings filed by the Kabiru Turaki-led Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) faction against a suit instituted by the faction aligned with the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike.
Justice Joyce Abdulmalik adjourned the matter on Wednesday, January 14, to enable counsel for the plaintiffs, Onyechi Ikpeazu, to respond to the stay application.
The PDP faction aligned with Wike had filed the suit marked FHC/ABJ/CS/2501/2025 through its acting National Chairman, Mohammed Abdulrahman, and factional National Secretary, Samuel Anyanwu.
The faction is seeking an order restraining the Turaki-led leadership, listed as 5th to 25th defendants, from parading themselves as representatives of the PDP and stopping the police and the Department of State Services (DSS) from allowing them access to the party’s national secretariat at Wadata Plaza, Abuja.
They also asked the court to restrain the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) from accepting any office address from the Turaki faction other than the one already in its records.
In addition, the faction asked the court to declare that INEC, the police, and the DSS are bound to enforce earlier judgments and rulings delivered by Justices James Omotosho and Peter Lifu.
Justice Abdulmalik had earlier granted an ex-parte order directing parties not to take any step pending the determination of the suit.
The Turaki-led PDP appealed the decision and filed a motion for stay of proceedings, as well as a motion on notice asking the judge to withdraw from the case on grounds of alleged bias.
During Wednesday’s hearing, counsel to the Wike-led faction, Ikpeazu, said the court had earlier ruled that all pending applications would be taken together with the substantive suit and that the plaintiffs were ready to proceed.
But counsel to the Turaki faction, Chief Chris Uche, said they had filed an appeal against the ex-parte order, which had been entered at the Court of Appeal as CA/ABJ/CV/1770/2025.
Uche further argued that once an appeal has been entered, the trial court should cease further proceedings, citing Secondus vs. Ibaochi Alex, and urged the court to stay proceedings and adjourn the matter sine die.
Ikpeazu countered that an appeal does not automatically translate to a stay, saying, “By virtue of Order 4, Rules 11(2) of the Court of Appeal rules, Sub. 1 provides for a basis for the application they have just made, but Sub. 2 limits the scope of the Sub. 1.”
He added that the appeal was against an interlocutory decision of the judge.
Justice Abdulmalik asked Ikpeazu if he had been served with the stay motion, to which he said the legal team was served late on Tuesday.
The judge directed him to file a formal response and adjourned the case to January 23rd for the hearing of the stay application.
Speaking with journalists after the hearing, the National Publicity Secretary of the PDP National Working Caretaker Committee, Jungudo Mohammed, expressed hopes that the court will grant the plaintiffs’ request, on the grounds of two previous judgments of the Federal High Court.
