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Justice Emeka Nwite of the Federal High Court, 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 a judgment, Justice Nwite held that the suit filed by promoters of the association was incompetent and unsupported by credible evidence.

The plaintiffs, led by Umar Ardo, had sued INEC alongside Chief Akin Ricketts and Aminu Ahmed, seeking an order compelling the electoral body to register ADA as a political party.

They also urged the court to declare the association 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 commenced through the wrong procedure.

Justice 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 originating summons.

The judge ruled that the matter ought to have been initiated through a writ of summons to allow parties to call oral evidence and cross-examine witnesses.

The judge held that the matter was instituted through an improper procedure and was thereby incompetent, and consequently struck out the suit.

“Consequently, the second and third defendants’ preliminary objection is upheld, and this suit is hereby struck out,” he added.

The judge, however, proceeded to determine the substantive claims of the plaintiffs, “assuming I am wrong” on the procedural issue.

In the substantive decision, Justice Nwite held that the plaintiffs failed to establish with credible evidence that Chief Ricketts had defected from ADA to the African Democratic Congress (ADC), as alleged.

The plaintiffs had relied on online newspapers publications to argue that Ricketts had joined the ADC before the suit was filed.

But the judge held that newspaper publications were insufficient proof of the truth of their contents.

Citing several authorities, including Ojukwu v. Yar’Adua and Fawehinmi v. IGP, the court held that newspaper reports only establish that a publication was made and not the veracity of the allegations contained in them.

Justice Nwite further held that the plaintiffs failed to provide independent evidence showing that Ricketts had formally defected to the ADC.

According to the court, there was no evidence such as membership records, a membership card, or proof of dues payment linking him to the ADC.

The court also agreed with INEC’s position that the plaintiffs failed to comply with constitutional and electoral requirements for political party registration.

The judge noted inconsistencies in the names of the interim national officers submitted to INEC and those contained in the association’s original letter of intent.

He held 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.

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Operatives of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) have nabbed Mustapha Abdullahi, the director-general of the Energy Commission of Nigeria, over alleged money laundering offences involving more than N500 billion.

TheCable understands that Abdullahi was arrested in Abuja on Wednesday and is currently being held in the custody of the anti-graft agency for further investigation.

Cable

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. We’ll continue to work with local and international partners until illicit drug supply chain is fully broken in Nigeria, Marwa assures

Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) have intercepted a large consignment of Canadian Loud, a high-potency strain of cannabis, weighing 4,173.5 kilograms with a street value of Ten Billion Four Hundred and Thirty-Three Million Seven Hundred and Fifty Thousand Naira (N10, 433, 750,000.00) only at the Tincan Island Port in Lagos.

The successful interdiction of the illicit drug consignment followed painstaking intelligence gathering, sustained surveillance, and trailing of the container, which was transloaded a number of times since it left Toronto, Canada on 28th March, conveyed through rails to Montreal, where it was loaded on board a vessel, Jakarta express voyage, which arrived Tanger Med Port in Morocco on 15th April, discharged and reloaded on another vessel, Osaka voyage, which eventually arrived the Lagos Port on Saturday 9th May 2026.

The over two months of monitoring the shipment by the Marine Intelligence Unit of NDLEA and the Tincan Island Strategic Command of the Agency, working in close collaboration with international partners particularly the United Kingdom Home Office International Operations, the United States Drug Enforcement Administration, and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, culminated in the eventual seizure of the consignment on Tuesday 12th May during a joint examination of the container by NDLEA operatives, men of Customs Service and other security agencies.

The development comes barely four days after NDLEA operatives raided a Lekki mansion used as stash house where 4,000 parcels of same psychoactive substance weighing 2,326 kilograms worth over Five Billion Eight Hundred and Fifteen Million Naira (N5,815,000,000.00) were recovered.

The illicit drug consignments from Canada were professionally packed and concealed inside two vehicles: a used Ford Bus and a Mercedes Benz C300 car, stashed within the shipping container. Speaking during the handover of the exhibits by the NCS at the Port in Lagos on Wednesday 13th May, the NDLEA’s Director of Seaports Operations, ACG Ibinabo ArchieAbia said the “achievement once again demonstrates the effectiveness of inter-agency cooperation, international collaboration, and intelligence-driven operations in combating transnational organized crime and illicit drug trafficking.”

Reacting to the development, the Chairman/Chief Executive Officer of NDLEA, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (Rtd), commended the officers of the Tincan Command and the MIU of the Agency for their vigilance and professional conduct, noting that the volume of recent Loud seizures highlights a coordinated attempt by international drug syndicates to flood the Nigerian market with synthetic strains of cannabis.

“This second massive seizure in less than a week is a clear message to the international syndicates who think they can use our ports as entry points for their soul-destroying trade, that the synergy between NDLEA and Customs Service as well as other security agencies and our international partners like the Canadian Royal Mounted Police, the UK-HOIO and the US DEA is yielding fantastic results. We will not rest until every link in this supply chain is broken and those behind these shipments are brought to justice”, Marwa stated.