The African Democratic Congress (ADC) in the Federal Capital Territory has filed a lawsuit at the Federal High Court in Abuja seeking to stop Senator Ireti Kingibe from presenting herself as a member of the party following her recent suspension.
The legal action comes barely 48 hours after the Wuse Ward Executive Committee of the party announced the senator’s indefinite suspension from the ADC.
In the suit filed by the party’s counsel, Maxwell Opara, the ward leadership is asking the court to determine whether it has the authority to discipline and suspend party members within its jurisdiction. The plaintiffs are also requesting a judicial declaration affirming that the suspension imposed on the senator remains valid and binding.
The case was instituted by Okezuo Godfrey Kanayo, chairman of the ADC in Wuse Ward, alongside the ward secretary, Isaiah Ojonugwa Samuel. Both officials filed the suit on behalf of the ward executive committee and in their personal capacities as party leaders.
According to the plaintiffs, the court should declare that Senator Kingibe cannot lawfully hold herself out as a member or a card-carrying representative of the party for the duration of her suspension.
They further urged the court to restrain the party’s National Working Committee from recognising or treating the senator as a member of the ADC at any level until the suspension is lifted.
In addition, the plaintiffs are seeking judicial validation of the disciplinary action taken by the Wuse Ward Executive Committee, insisting that the decision to suspend the senator was taken in accordance with the party’s constitution and internal rules.
The suit, marked FHC/ABJ/CS/539/2026, is anchored on Sections 6(6)(b) and 251 of the 1999 Constitution (as amended), Article 16 of the ADC Constitution, as well as the provisions of the Federal High Court (Civil Procedure) Rules 2019.
The plaintiffs also urged the court to exercise its inherent powers to interpret and enforce the provisions of the party’s constitution regarding disciplinary authority.
As of the time of filing the case, the matter had not yet been assigned to a judge at the Federal High Court in Abuja.
