Court Rejects PDP's Bid to Halt Kwara LG Elections

The Federal High Court (Court 10) in Abuja, presided over by Justice Peter Odolifu, dismissed a suit filed by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to stop the Kwara State Independent Electoral Commission (KWASIEC) from conducting local government elections. The court ruled that the suit, No.

FHC/ABJ/CS/1061/2024, was statute-barred and constituted an abuse of the court process. The PDP, represented by Mayor Eze, sought to restrain KWASIEC from conducting elections and to prevent the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) from providing the Voters’ Register.

The court had initially ordered the maintenance of the status quo, which was later vacated, allowing elections to proceed while the suit was pending. The PDP participated in the elections and subsequently filed 24 election petitions, all of which were dismissed without appeal.

An attempt to amend the originating summons to nullify the elections was rejected by the court, which stated that the amendment changed the nature of the case from a pre-election to a post-election matter, thus falling outside its jurisdiction.