Appeal Court voids ruling affirming Gombe as SDP National Chair
The Court of Appeal in Abuja has voided the January 19 judgment delivered by Justice Emeka Nwite of a Federal High Court in Abuja, recognising Dr. Sadiq Umar Abubakar Gombe
The Court of Appeal in Abuja has voided the January 19 judgment delivered by Justice Emeka Nwite of a Federal High Court in Abuja, recognising Dr. Sadiq Umar Abubakar Gombe as the authentic National Chairman of the Social Democratic Party (SDP).
A three-member panel of the appellate court, led by Justice Abba Mohammed, was unanimous in holding that the trial court judge erred in reaching the said decision.
The judgment, delivered on March 27, with a certified true copy (CTC) seen on April 9, was on the appeal filed by Fayemi Tosin Babatunde, who claimed to have wanted to contest the next governorship election in Ekiti State as an SDP aspirant.
The appellate court resolved two of the three issues for determination in favour of the appellant.
In the lead judgment, Justice Eberechi Nyesom-Wike held, among others, that the Federal High Court lacked the jurisdiction to hear the suit in the first place, having found that the appellant was not an aspirant and lacked the legal capacity to challenge the outcome of the SDP’s governorship primary for Ekiti State.
Justice Nyesom-Wike said: “The court below merely held that the appellant was not an aspirant. The court did not do the next thing expected of it, which is to decline jurisdiction and strike the suit out.
“Apart from considering whether or not the appellant is an aspirant who can challenge the outcome of a primary election, the court below did not consider whether or not the questions in the originating summons and reliefs sought were justiciable.”
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The judge held that the questions in the originating summons and the reliefs sought were directed at questioning the legitimacy of the leadership of the party, which constitutes an issue on which the court cannot exercise jurisdiction.
She struck out the originating summons that Babatunde filed before the Federal High Court on November 21, 2025, and set aside the decisions the court made on the grounds that a court without jurisdiction lacks the vires to make further pronouncements.
Justice Nyesom-Wike also said: “The appeal, therefore, succeeds in part. In respect of the issue of the leadership tussle and the venue of the primaries, I find and hold that the decision of the Federal High Court, Abuja division, delivered on January 19, 2026 (Coram: Hon. Justice Emeka Nwite) is affirmed only to the extent that the appellant is not an aspirant to the primary election.
“The decision on Dr. Sadiq Abubakar Gombe being the authentic leader of the second respondent (SDP), having been made without jurisdiction and being perverse, is set aside.
“The decision that the second respondent’s primary election of November 8, 2025, is valid and in compliance with the Electoral Act, 2022, is also set aside.
“I will make no order declaring that the second respondent has no valid candidate for the governorship election of Ekiti State, as all parties to be affected by this order are not before this Court and INEC indeed, monitored a primary election at the approved venue in the notice before us, even as the winner is not a party in this appeal.”
Babatunde had queried the legitimacy of the party’s National Working Committee (NWC), led by Dr. Sadiq Umar Abubakar Gombe and Dr. Olu Agunloye, alleging that it was “illegally constituted”.
He accused the NWC of failing to follow the party’s constitution and the Electoral Act in conducting the governorship primary and prayed the court to, among others, void the outcome of the party’s governorship primary in Ekiti State and declare that the SDP has no valid candidates for the election.
