THE NYANYA Division of the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) on Tuesday, November 25, 2025 awarded costs against a former President of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Comrade Ayuba Wabba, for undue delay and a lack of diligent prosecution in a matter he initiated before the court on March 3, 2022.
The presiding judge, Honourable Justice Babangida Hassan, imposed the costs after hearing arguments from counsel for both parties in Suit No.: FCT/HC/CV/719/2022 between the Claimant/Respondent, Comrade Ayuba and Contest Communications Ltd. And Iduh Lawrence Onah, first and second Defendants/Respondents respectfully.
Mr. O. P. Okpenge, Esq., counsel for the Defendants/Counter-Claimants, had orally applied for cost in the sum of N250,000 against the claimant/respondent. While the court agreed with the principle of awarding costs, it ultimately granted a sum of N20,000.
The hearing began with Chief Samson Okpetu, counsel to Comrade Wabba, informing the court of an “infinitesimal application”, which he revealed, had been served on the Defendants/Counter-Claimants. The application sought to amend the claimant’s processes, which were originally filed in 2022.
In response, Mr. Okpenge stated that while he was aware of the application, it was not yet ripe for hearing as it had only been served on the Defendants/Counter-Claimants at the close of work on Thursday, November 20, 2025. He therefore asserted his right to respond to the application, which the court granted.
Conceding to the necessity of an adjournment, Mr. Okpenge then made his oral application for costs. He argued that there had been several adjournments at the instance of the claimant since the matter was filed over three years ago, with no genuine effort made to prosecute the case.
He specifically noted that the last adjournment was on October 20, 2025, and that the claimant’s counsel had a 35-day period until the current sitting to file the application for amendment but only chose to do so the preceding week.
“The last adjournment was 20th October 2025; if counsel wanted to bring in an application for amendment, he had 35 days till today. He only sought to file and serve us last week Thursday. My lord, we are very minded to object to that application but we are not there yet. Where we are at now, my lord, is the fact that for the past five sittings, the claimant, who brought us to court since 2022 has continued to occasion adjournments; and for that reason, I will be asking for cost;” Okpenge argued, quoting relevant rules of the court to back his prayer.
He stressed that since the matter was filed on March 3, 2022, Wabba had never been in court up till this sitting.
“My lord, we are asking for a cost of N250,000. My lord, this is on the ground that this cost is accumulated. We would have made this application right from when my lord was sitting in Jabi, that the claimant is not diligent in prosecuting this matter. My lord, our application is predicated on Order 41, Rule 1 and 6, and Order 38 Rule 6 of the Rules of this Court, and on the principle that cost follows events”.
“Another adjournment taken today is a series of events that have been occasioned by the claimant which is injurious to the defendants, and has caused the defendants for at least the fifth time, to spend resources to come before this Honourable Court for hearing.
“My lord first adjourned this matter for hearing sometime in January 2023. From that day till today, the claimant has not opened his case;” Okpenge further argued.
In response to the defence counsel, Chief Samson Okpetu, Esq. blamed the serial adjournments on the court, arguing that the involvement of the presiding Judge, Justice Hassan, in the 2023 election tribunal was responsible for the delay.
The court took exception to the blame game, noting, however, claimant’s inability in prosecuting the matter since May/June 2024.
The court’s perspective forced Chief Okpetu to back off and instead attempted to shift blame to defendants’ motion to file a counter-affidavit for a counter-claim in 2024, which he said necessitated the amendment of the claimant’s writ of summons, witness statements on oath and reply to defendant’s counter-claim.
Again, Okpenge objected Okpetu’s line of submission, noting that the stage for arguing the application for the amendment of claimant’s writ of summons had not come.
He argued that the defence will properly file their submissions to the issue of amendment of the claimant’s writ of summons, and that as such, the claimant was merely wasting the precious time of the court, to which Justice Hassan agreed. Following this, Okpetu apologised for the delays.
The court subsequently adjourned sitting on the matter to February 5, 2026 after granting N20,000 as cost for the delays.
Flashback
The legal dispute between the former NLC President, Contest Communications Ltd (publishers of National Record newspaper) and its Editor-in-Chief/publisher, Comrade Iduh L. Onah, has been marked by significant delays at the instance of the claimant.
The case, originally filed by Wabba in March 2022, is a-₦1 billion libel suit following a December 2021 news report published by National Record, in which employees of the NLC had accused him (Wabba) of hypocrisy for criticising other employers who he claimed failed to pay December salaries before Christmas while he allegedly did the same to NLC staff.
The penultimate sitting on October 20, 2025 was itself adjourned to Tuesday, November 25, 2025, after Wabba’s counsel informed the court that his client could not appear for security reasons related to a protest.
The presiding judge, Honourable Justice Babangida Hassan, had admonished Wabba’s legal team to handle the case with more diligence, taking judicial notice of the case’s age and the lack of substantive progress.
The background of the suit reveals a complex and acrimonious conflict.
While Wabba is claiming the publication was malicious and designed to destroy his hard-earned reputation; in a significant countermove, Onah and Contest Communications Ltd filed a counter-claim, joining the NLC, Wabba, and NLC’s General Secretary, Comrade Emmanuel Ugboaja, as defendants.
They allege that a press statement issued by the NLC leadership on December 31, 2021, contained libellous statements against them, falsely claiming that Onah was a ‘disgruntled former intermediate employee’ whose appointment was ‘terminated for alleged unethical conduct and attempted extortion’.
Onah averred that these claims are fabrications and that he had, in fact, held a senior position in the NLC, unjustly sacked and went to court and won; and that he later worked collaboratively with the NLC as a consultant.
