A High Court in the Dutsin-Ma Local Government Area of Katsina State has turned down a case over a leadership conflict inside the African Democratic Congress (ADC). The case was brought by a group within the party in the state.
According to Channels TV, Justice A.K. Tukur, who was in charge of the case, said that the court does not have the legal jurisdiction to become involved in matters that are part of a political party’s internal affairs.
The judge used Section 83(5) of the Electoral Act to make the ruling. This section says that courts can’t get involved in these kinds of cases.
The court said, “We can’t get involved in party matters,” underlining that political parties should settle these kinds of disagreements on their own.
Because the court didn’t have the power to hear the case, it threw out the lawsuit. This means that the case wasn’t determined on its own merits, but rather because the court didn’t have the right to hear it.
The decision basically puts an end to the Wamba-led faction’s legal effort to use the courts to contest the defendants’ acts. The plaintiff’s requests for help were likewise turned down.
The parties can now choose to settle the disagreement through internal party channels or look into alternative legal options if they are available.
The most recent verdict also overturned an earlier temporary order made by the same court.
As a reminder, the court ordered the ADC to stop all of its activities in the state right away last Tuesday. This was until a substantive litigation was set for April 15, 2026.
The order was given after Usman Wamba, the state party chairman, filed an ex parte application.
The lawsuit names Lawan Batagarawa, Babangida Ibrahim Mahuta, the ADC national leadership, and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) as defendants.
In the prior ruling, Justice Tukur issued a temporary order stopping the first and second defendants, their agents, or friends from acting as party members in Katsina State or doing party business.
The court also said that the ADC’s national leadership and INEC could not recognize, oversee, or take part in any congress that the defendants held about the Katsina chapter of the party.
The judge also told everyone to keep things the way they are, which meant that all acts related to the disputed congress were placed on hold until the move on notice was heard.
The court also allowed the defendants to be served with court papers outside of its jurisdiction, especially in Abuja, through a courier service that acted as a special bailiff.
The lawsuit came up because there was a disagreement over who should manage the Katsina State chapter of the party. The plaintiff said the defendants tried to take over his role as state chairman.
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