A High Court of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) has restrained some factional leaders of the National Youth Council of Nigeria (NYCN) from proceeding with a planned election, originally scheduled for October 7, 2025.
The affected leaders – Ademola Gbenga, Okechukwu Nnamene, Abel Abaji, Alex Allen Akin, and Hassan Mamman – had allegedly organised the election in defiance of the existing NYCN leadership.
Justice J. E. Obanor issued the order on October 6 while ruling on a motion filed by the Incorporated Trustees of NYCN and Ambassador Sukubo Sara-Igbe Sukubo, who represents the council’s duly elected leadership. The court directed that the defendants be restrained from conducting any election pending the determination of the substantive suit, marked FCT/HC/CV/3803/2025.
The judge also ordered the Inspector General of Police (IGP) and the Department of State Services (DSS) to enforce the court’s directive.
In the suit, the plaintiffs explained that during the NYCN National Elective Convention held in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State, from September 20 to 22, Ambassador Sukubo Sara-Igbe Sukubo was re-elected as President along with other executives.
The plaintiffs alleged that Gbenga and his co-defendants, dissatisfied with the Sukubo-led administration, formed a parallel faction and planned to hold a separate election in Abuja on October 7, in violation of the council’s recognised electoral process.
The court’s order effectively postpones the election until the matter is resolved, with the next hearing scheduled for October 16, 2025.
