The Court of Appeal sitting in Akure has granted an application by the National Chairman of the Action Alliance, AA, Chief Kenneth Udeze, to withdraw as an interested party in a suit challenging the leadership of the party.Udeze had filed two separate motions on notice, marked CA/AK/268M/2025 and CA/AK/309M/2025, seeking the leave of the appellate court to withdraw from the matter.
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The motions arose from the leadership dispute within the Action Alliance and followed the judgment of the Federal High Court, Osogbo Division, in Suit No. FHC/OS/CS/34/2025, delivered on September 29, 2025.
In his application before the Court of Appeal, Udeze argued that the issues raised in the suit had already been settled by courts of competent jurisdiction in favour of his leadership of the party.
He maintained that several subsisting decisions of the Court of Appeal had affirmed him as the authentic National Chairman of the Action Alliance and that those decisions remained binding unless set aside by the Supreme Court.
According to him, continuing with the motions at the Court of Appeal would serve no practical purpose since the leadership issues were already covered by existing appellate decisions and were also connected to matters pending before the apex court.
Udeze further pointed to a pending appeal at the Supreme Court, marked SC/CV/162/2024, between Adekunle Rufai Omoaje and others versus Chief Uzewuru Nwachukwu and others.
The pending appeal, according to him, challenges a judgment of the Court of Appeal, Abuja Division, delivered on January 26, 2024, which he said had also affirmed his position as the authentic National Chairman of the Action Alliance.
He argued that by the doctrine of hierarchy of courts, a Federal High Court judgment could not override valid and subsisting decisions of the Court of Appeal.
Udeze said the Court of Appeal decisions recognising his leadership remained binding on all persons and authorities in Nigeria until set aside by a higher court.
The latest ruling of the Akure Division of the Court of Appeal granting his application to withdraw from the matter was therefore welcomed by Udeze, who described it as a step consistent with the existing judicial position on the party’s leadership dispute.
The Action Alliance has been embroiled in a long-running leadership crisis involving rival claims to the chairmanship of the party.
The dispute has generated several court actions, including proceedings relating to the recognition of party leadership, nomination of candidates and access to the Independent National Electoral Commission’s portal for the upload of candidates’ details.
In April 2026, the Federal High Court in Abuja struck out a suit filed by the Udeze-led leadership of the Action Alliance and the party’s governorship candidate for Ekiti State, Ayo Ogunlade, together with his running mate, Aluta Opeyemi Enitan, against INEC.
Justice Emeka Nwite declined jurisdiction to entertain the suit on the ground that the subject matter related substantially to the internal affairs and leadership dispute of a political party.
The court held that it lacked jurisdiction to determine the matter and struck it out without making any pronouncement on the merit of the claims.
Following that decision, Udeze insisted that the judgment did not affect his position as National Chairman of the party, maintaining that Court of Appeal judgments in his favour remained superior to any conflicting Federal High Court decision.
He also accused INEC of relying on a Federal High Court judgment in recognising Adekunle Rufai Omoaje as National Chairman despite what he described as subsisting appellate decisions in his favour.
With the latest ruling, Udeze said the withdrawal would help avoid duplication of proceedings and unnecessary litigation over issues he maintained had already been decided by higher courts.
The leadership tussle in the Action Alliance, however, remains a subject of legal and political contention, especially as parties continue to rely on different court decisions in support of their respective claims.
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