African Democratic Congress (ADC) Drags FCT Senator, Kingibe, to Court.
By Abdulkadir Yahaya, Abuja.
The African Democratic Congress (ADC) in the Federal Capital Territory has approached the Federal High Court in Abuja seeking an order to stop Senator Ireti Kingibe from presenting herself as a member of the party.
The legal action follows the senator’s indefinite suspension by the Wuse Ward Executive Committee of the ADC, which was announced about 48 hours earlier.
The suit, filed by the party’s lawyer, Maxwell Opara, is seeking a judicial declaration affirming the authority of the Wuse Ward Executive Committee to discipline and suspend members within its jurisdiction.
The ADC also asked the court to confirm that Kingibe’s suspension from the party remains valid.
The plaintiffs in the case are Okezuo Godfrey Kanayo, the Chairman of the ADC in Wuse Ward, and Isaiah Ojonugwa Samuel, the ward secretary.
They instituted the suit on behalf of the ward executive committee and themselves.
In the suit, they urged the court to declare that Kingibe cannot legally claim membership or present herself as a card-carrying member of the ADC while the suspension subsists.
The plaintiffs also asked the court to restrain the party’s National Working Committee from recognising the senator as a member of the ADC at any level during the period of her suspension.
They further requested the court to validate the ward executive committee’s decision to suspend the lawmaker.
The case, marked FHC/ABJ/CS/539/2026, was filed pursuant to Sections 6(6)(b) and 251 of the 1999 Constitution (as amended), Article 16 of the ADC Constitution, and the Federal High Court (Civil Procedure) Rules 2019.
The plaintiffs also relied on the court’s inherent powers to interpret and enforce party constitutions.
As of the time of filing this report, the case had not yet been assigned to a judge.
