By Sarah Joseph ABUJA —
The Supreme Court on Wednesday reserved judgment in an appeal seeking to validate the national convention of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) held in Ibadan, Oyo State, on November 15 and 16, 2025.
The appeal, marked SC/CV/164/2026, was instituted by the factional national leadership of the party led by Tanimu Turaki, SAN, which emerged from the disputed convention.
The appellants are asking the apex court to overturn earlier judgments of the Court of Appeal and the Federal High Court in Abuja that nullified the exercise.
A five-member panel of the Supreme Court, led by Justice Mohammed Lawal Garba, reserved its verdict after parties adopted their final written addresses.
The court said a date for judgment would be communicated.
Arguing through their counsel, Chief Paul Erokoro, SAN, the appellants urged the court to uphold the appeal and dismiss a cross-appeal filed by a rival faction aligned with the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike.
However, respondents, including Sule Lamido—represented by J.C. Njikonye, SAN—and the Wike-backed faction represented by J.B. Daudu, SAN, challenged the appeal’s competence and urged the court to dismiss it.
They maintained that the dispute was not purely an internal party matter and that lower courts rightly assumed jurisdiction.
The controversy stems from a Federal High Court judgment delivered on November 14, 2025, which restrained the PDP from conducting the Ibadan convention without including Lamido as a contestant for the position of National Chairman.
Justice Peter Lifu had ruled that Lamido was unjustly denied the opportunity to contest and ordered a halt to the convention to allow him participate.
Despite the order, the PDP proceeded with the convention, prompting the Court of Appeal to fault the party for disobedience.
The appellate court held that the PDP acted in contempt and should have sought relief from a higher court instead of proceeding in defiance of a valid order.
In a related appeal, the apex court is also considering a separate application by the PDP, its National Working Committee (NWC), and National Executive Committee (NEC), challenging another appellate court ruling that invalidated the convention.
The appellate court had upheld earlier Federal High Court decisions which found that the convention lacked legal backing due to non-compliance with statutory requirements, including failure to conduct valid congresses in several states and improper notification to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
It also ruled that the exercise breached provisions of the Electoral Act, the 1999 Constitution (as amended), and the PDP’s internal guidelines.
Meanwhile, a rival faction of the party aligned with Wike has since conducted a separate national convention in Abuja, producing its own leadership and securing a court order granting it access to the PDP national secretariat.
With judgment now reserved, the Supreme Court’s decision is expected to be pivotal in determining the legitimacy of the party’s leadership amid the lingering internal crisis.
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