• SDP confirms Adebayo as presidential candidate
A Federal High Court in Abuja has dismissed a suit seeking to compel the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to register the All Democratic Alliance (ADA) as a political party.
 
In another development, the Social Democratic Party (SDP) has submitted the name of Adewole Adebayo to INEC as its presidential candidate ahead of the 2027 general election.
 
Justice Emeka Nwite, in a judgment delivered yesterday, held that the suit filed by the promoters of the association was incompetent and lacked credible evidence.
 
The plaintiffs, led by Umar Ardo, in suit number FHC/ABJ/CS/2788/2025, sued INEC alongside Akin Ricketts and Aminu Ahmed, seeking to compel the electoral body to register ADA as a political party.
 
They also sought a declaration that the association should be deemed registered under Section 75(4) of the Electoral Act, 2022, on the grounds that INEC allegedly failed to act within the statutory period.
 
However, the court upheld a preliminary objection filed by the second and third defendants, who argued that the suit was initiated through the wrong legal procedure.
  
Nwite held that the issues raised by the plaintiffs were contentious and involved allegations of fraud and disputed facts, which could not be resolved through an originating summons.
 
According to the judge, the matter ought to have been commenced through a writ of summons to enable the parties to call oral evidence and cross-examine witnesses.
 
“The matter is instituted by an improper procedure and thereby incompetent,” the judge ruled while striking out the suit. “In view of the foregoing analysis, I am of the view, and I so hold, that this matter is instituted by an improper procedure, and thereby incompetent, and in turn robbed the court of its requisite decision.
 
“Consequently, the second and third defendants’ preliminary objection is upheld, and this is hereby struck out,” he added.
 
The judge, however, proceeded to consider the plaintiffs’ substantive claims, “assuming I am wrong” on the procedural issue.
 
He noted inconsistencies between the names of the interim national officers submitted to INEC and those in the association’s original letter of intent, adding that the plaintiffs failed to satisfactorily explain the discrepancies.

“In sum, I am of the view, and I so hold, that the case of the plaintiffs is lacking in merit and not supported by credible evidence, and it is hereby dismissed,” Justice Nwite ruled.

IN a letter addressed to INEC following SDP’s national convention and presidential primary in Bauchi, the party, through its National Secretary, Dr Olu Agunloye, said it was officially forwarding the details of its elected presidential flagbearer for the 2027 presidential election.
 
The party stated that the convention and direct primary election were conducted peacefully and successfully at the Abubakar Tafawa Balewa Stadium, Bauchi, where Adebayo emerged as the sole aspirant and secured the support of delegates and party members.
 
According to the letter entitled ‘Submission of the Name and Other Details of SDP Presidential Candidate’, the party informed INEC that “the presidential candidate nominated by the Social Democratic Party for sponsorship in the 2027 presidential election is Prince Adewole Ebenezer Adebayo.”
 
The party also confirmed that Adebayo would contest the office of President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria on the SDP platform.
 
Adebayo, who was the SDP presidential candidate in the 2023 election, was returned unopposed at the party’s convention in Bauchi after emerging as the sole aspirant for the ticket.