A federal court in Abuja has handed a sweeping victory to Ireti Kingibe, the senator representing the Federal Capital Territory, dismissing a lawsuit that sought to bar her from her own party and ordering the plaintiffs and their lawyer to pay a combined 20 million naira in fines directly to her.
Justice Peter Lifu of the Federal High Court struck out the suit on Friday, ruling that it was frivolous, baseless and unfounded, and that the matter of party discipline was an internal affair of the African Democratic Congress that had no place before a court of law.
The case had been brought by two ward members, Okezuo Anayo and Isaiah Samuel, acting on behalf of themselves and other members of the Wuse Ward Executive of the ADC. They claimed that Kingibe had been formally suspended on 10 March following allegations of anti-party activities, gross misconduct and the confiscation of the ward’s statutory records — a suspension they said was ratified by a two-thirds majority of party executives in accordance with the ADC’s constitution.
Through their lawyer, Kolawole Olowookere, a senior advocate, they asked the court for an interim injunction that would have prevented Kingibe from presenting herself as an ADC member, attending party meetings or representing the party in any capacity while their case was heard. They further alleged that, despite being notified of her suspension, she had continued to hold parallel meetings, issue press statements as a party member and used her security personnel to intimidate the ward executive.
Justice Lifu was unconvinced — and pointed to a fundamental contradiction at the heart of the case. If the plaintiffs had already suspended the senator, he observed, it was Kingibe herself, as the aggrieved party, who would logically bring proceedings to challenge the action. Instead, those who had carried out the suspension had come to court seeking validation of their own decision. The judge suggested this revealed a telling lack of confidence in the legitimacy of their own conduct.
“The issue of discipline and suspension upon which this suit is predicated is an internal affair of the ADC that does not need the intervention of any court,” Justice Lifu said in his ruling.
Invoking Sections 82 and 83 of the Electoral Act — provisions designed to deter the abuse of judicial process in political disputes — he imposed a fine of 10 million naira on the plaintiffs, payable to Kingibe, and a further 10 million naira on Olowookere personally, also payable to the senator.
The ruling leaves Kingibe free to participate fully in all ADC activities. It also delivers a pointed warning to party figures who seek to resolve internal political grievances through the courts, reinforcing a principle that Nigerian judges have increasingly asserted: that the judiciary is not an instrument for settling factional disputes within political organisations.
