By Nchetachi Chukwuajah
On Thursday, April 30, the Supreme Court nullified the national convention of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), which was held in Ibadan, Oyo State, on November 15 and 16, 2025.
In a split judgment delivered by a five-member panel of the apex court, three justices held that the appeal filed by a faction of the party led by former Minister of Special Duties, Tanimu Turaki (SAN), lacked merit and affirmed the concurrent decisions of the Federal High Court and the Court of Appeal nullifying the convention.
Delivering the lead judgement in appeal number SC/CV/164/2026, Justice Stephen Adah held that the appellants acted in flagrant disobedience of a subsisting order of the Federal High Court restraining them from proceeding with the planned convention pending compliance with earlier directives of the court.
“The disobedience of the court order is not disputed,” Justice Adah held, adding that what transpired amounted to “a threat to the administration of justice in Nigeria.”
The Supreme Court consequently dismissed both the appeal and cross-appeals and ordered the parties to bear their respective costs.
The legal dispute stems from the controversial Ibadan convention organised by the Turaki-led faction of the PDP despite pending court orders and unresolved disputes over congresses conducted in several states.
In the lead-up to the Ibadan convention, PDP officials, including Austine Nwachukwu, Imo State chairman; Amah Abraham Nnanna, Abia State chairman; and Turnah George, the party’s South-South secretary, filed a case at the Federal High Court, Abuja, to determine if the party could proceed with the convention or not.
On October 31, Justice James Omotosho voided the convention and ordered the PDP not to go ahead with the convention.
Another Federal High Court judge, Justice Peter Lifu, gave an interim injunction on November 11, stopping the convention following the prayers by former Jigawa State Governor, Sule Lamido, who is contending that he was being excluded from contesting as national chairman with the denial of forms.
However, the PDP faction backed by Governors Seyi Makinde of Oyo State, Bala Mohammed of Borno State, and other governors who were previously in the party, approached the Ibadan High Court to obtain an order to go ahead with the convention.
At the convention, the National Working Committee (NWC), chaired by former PDP acting National Chairman, Umar Iliya Damagum, was dissolved, and a new NWC led by Turaki was elected.
The party’s leadership was further embroiled in dispute after the convention over access to its national secretariat as the Turaki-led faction and the faction loyal to the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, laid claims to it.
The dispute degenerated into physical confrontations and an eventual sealing of the secretariat by the police on November 19, 2025.
On March 9, 2026, the Court of Appeal in Abuja upheld the judgement delivered by Justice James Omotosho of the Federal High Court, Abuja, on October 31, 2025, restraining the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) from recognising the outcome of the PDP national convention.
The judgement was a unanimous decision delivered by a three-member panel led by Justice Uchechukwu Onyemenam.
In its ruling, the Appeal Court dismissed an appeal filed by the Turaki-led faction challenging the jurisdiction of the Federal High Court to entertain the suit.
The appellate court maintained that the Federal High Court had jurisdiction to hear the suit and dismissed the stance that the dispute was the party’s internal affair.
According to the court, the appellants could not “repackage a clear violation of the party constitution and that of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria as an internal party affair.”
The Appeal Court also held that the PDP faction did not comply with the constitutional and statutory provisions required before a valid national convention could be held.
It noted that the party did not serve any valid notice of the convention on INEC as required by law and that valid congresses were not conducted in more than 14 states before the convention was convened.
The appellate court affirmed the earlier decision of the Federal High Court and held that the convention was conducted in violation of subsisting judicial orders and contrary to established legal procedures.
Dissatisfied with the appellate court’s decision, the Turaki-led faction proceeded to the Supreme Court, seeking five principal reliefs and one general relief, including orders setting aside the judgements of the lower courts and validating the Ibadan convention.
However, the apex court rejected the appeal in its entirety.
The Supreme Court reserved judgement on the appeal after hearing arguments from the parties on April 22.
The Supreme Court’s judgement nullifying the outcome of the Ibadan convention has sealed the fate of the PDP’s leadership, with the Wike faction now at the helm of the party’s affairs.
