By Dr Alex Adum
Yesterday, I issued a statement highlighting the inherent weakness of the above suit and its inability to derail the planned Congresses and National Convention of the ADC. That intervention demonstrated the frivolous nature of the action and its lack of any real legal consequence on the Party’s internal processes.
While it sufficed, however, I have since come across an even more decisive statutory provision under the Electoral Act 2026, which unequivocally reinforces that position and puts the matter beyond any argument or per adventure.
Section 83(5) of the Electoral Act 2026 provides as follows:
*“No court shall entertain any suit relating to the internal affairs of a political party.”*
This provision marks a clear and deliberate legislative shift aimed at insulating political parties from needless judicial interference. It codifies what has long been the settled position of the Supreme Court, that internal party matters are non-justiciable except in the most limited and exceptional circumstances.
The implication is direct and far-reaching: routine intra-party issues, such as conduct of congresses, conventions, leadership questions, and disciplinary measures, are no longer matters for judicial contestation. The era of weaponizing litigation to stall or sabotage party activities has, by this provision, effectively come to an end.
Beyond strengthening party autonomy, this reform also addresses the chronic abuse of court processes by individuals who, rather than exhaust internal mechanisms, resort to litigation as a strategy of disruption or, worse, pecuniary gain. The courts are no longer available as instruments for such mischief.
Accordingly, the suit instituted by Don Norman Obinna, Yinka Olona, and others is fundamentally defective. It suffers from a fatal jurisdictional handicap and is, in effect, dead on arrival. It cannot, and will not, impede the lawful activities of the Party.
This development should be received as reassuring by the National Working Committee and well-meaning members of the Party. It is also a clear signal to those who persist in sponsoring or prosecuting frivolous intra-party litigation, often at the behest of external interests, that the legal landscape has decisively changed.
Let it be stated without equivocation: any member who elects to pursue intra-party grievances through the courts, in defiance of this statutory prohibition, does so at their own peril. The age of litigation-for-profit and judicial disruption of party affairs has been firmly brought to a close.
Party members are therefore strongly advised to familiarize themselves with the provisions of the Electoral Act 2026 and to channel all grievances through the Party’s constitutionally recognized internal mechanisms.
The message is clear: internal disputes must be resolved internally.
Alex Ter Adum, Ph.D
alexadum45@gmail.com
