Niger Delta environmental activist and House of Representatives aspirant, Chief Sheriff Mulade, has dragged the Nigeria Democratic Congress to court, demanding N5 billion in damages over the party’s alleged decision to jettison the outcome of its primary election for Warri Federal Constituency.

Mulade, a prominent rights advocate and the Ibe-Sorimowei of Gbaramatu Kingdom in Delta State, said the party abruptly abandoned the primary process in favour of what he described as an “unknown selection or appointment process,” allegedly driven by financial influence rather than internal democracy.

In a statement personally signed and made available to journalists in Warri, Mulade said he and his supporters had invested time, resources and trust in the NDC, believing the relatively new party would offer a credible alternative to Nigeria’s dominant political platforms.

“We were taken aback by the newly registered party, the Nigeria Democratic Congress, which many Nigerians considered a saviour capable of addressing the numerous challenges confronting our dear nation,” he said, accusing the leadership of betraying those expectations.

Mulade alleged that the party’s candidate selection had been reduced to a process favouring the “highest bidder for nomination forms,” claiming that financial contributions and donations appeared to outweigh merit, competence and the will of party members who participated in the primary.

He stressed that his legal action, seeking N5 billion in damages, was aimed at challenging what he called an “infraction” on both his rights as an aspirant and the broader principles of internal party democracy. According to him, allowing such practices to stand would further erode public confidence in emerging political platforms.

While insisting that he still holds the NDC leadership, particularly its national leader, former Bayelsa State governor Senator Henry Seriake Dickson, in high esteem, Mulade suggested that the party hierarchy “seemed to have been overwhelmed by resources from certain Nigerians with deliberate intentions, in the guise of donations, contributions and nomination form sales.”

He urged party members, civil society groups and democratic institutions to pay close attention to the unfolding case, arguing that its outcome would have implications beyond his personal ambition, touching on transparency, fairness and the credibility of internal party processes across the country.