The Federal High Court in Abuja has dismissed a suit filed by the Peoples Democratic Party seeking to nullify the last local government elections in Kwara State.
Justice Peter Lifu threw out the case on Tuesday, holding that the PDP had already participated in the elections, challenged the results through election petitions and failed to appeal the decisions before returning to the Federal High Court with an amended claim.
The suit, marked FHC/ABJ/CS/1061/2024, was filed against the Independent National Electoral Commission and the Kwara State Independent Electoral Commission.
The PDP had initially sought to stop KWASIEC from conducting the elections and prevent INEC from releasing the voters’ register to the state electoral body.
However, the elections went ahead while the suit was pending, after which the PDP participated in the process and later filed about 24 petitions challenging the results.
Those petitions were dismissed, and the party did not appeal the decisions.
The PDP subsequently amended its case before the Federal High Court to seek the nullification of the elections.
Justice Lifu rejected the move, ruling that the amendment had changed the case from a pre-election dispute to a post-election challenge.
“The amendment fundamentally altered the character of the action,” the judge held.
He ruled that the Federal High Court could not assume the powers of an election tribunal through an amended originating summons.
“The court lacked jurisdiction to start as an election tribunal,” Lifu said.
The judge also held that the amended claim had become statute-barred and agreed with the defendants that the continued action amounted to an abuse of court process.
According to the court, the PDP had already chosen the election petition route after participating in the polls and could not seek substantially the same relief through another judicial process.
“The plaintiff voluntarily participated in the said elections, presented election petitions, and failed in all of them,” the court held.
Justice Lifu said it was improper for the party to return to court through an amended originating summons to seek remedies it could no longer pursue through the election petition process.
The suit was consequently dismissed, leaving the outcome of the Kwara local government elections intact.
