A Federal High Court sitting in Ibadan, Oyo State, has nullified the Peoples Democratic Party’s National Convention held on November 15, 2025, declaring the gathering illegal and of no effect.
In a judgment delivered on Friday, January 30, 2026, the court barred members of the Tanimu Turaki-led National Working Committee from parading themselves as national officers of the opposition party, dealing a major blow to the faction’s claim to leadership of the PDP.
The court further ruled that the Caretaker Committee led by Mohammed Abdulrahman and Senator Samuel Anyanwu remains the only recognised National Working Committee of the PDP pending the conduct of a valid and properly constituted national convention.
The decision follows months of internal crisis within the party, marked by rival factions, parallel leadership structures, and a series of court battles over the legitimacy of the Ibadan convention. Aggrieved stakeholders who instituted the suit argued that the convention was fundamentally flawed, citing unresolved disputes over delegate lists, state congresses, and compliance with party guidelines.
The court agreed, holding that the process leading to the convention did not meet the legal and procedural requirements expected of a national political party convention under Nigerian law.
Read also:
- Zamfara SSG’s brother dumps PDP for APC ahead of 2027 elections
- Sabalenka crushes Svitolina to storm into fourth straight Australian Open Final
- Burkina Faso Junta Dissolves All Political Parties, Scraps Multiparty System
In late November 2025, a faction aligned with the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, and represented by Abdulrahman and Anyanwu, had also approached the Federal High Court in Abuja seeking to void the Ibadan convention. That suit described the exercise as having been conducted in “flagrant disregard” of subsisting court orders and existing judgments.
The Wike-aligned faction had asked the court to restrain the Independent National Electoral Commission and security agencies from recognising or dealing with individuals elected or appointed at the Ibadan convention, arguing that any outcome from the exercise lacked legal standing.
Reinforcing that position, the Ibadan court stated unequivocally that the Abdulrahman-Anyanwu Caretaker Committee is the only lawful leadership structure of the PDP for now, stressing that all actions taken by the Turaki-led NWC remain without legal backing until a fresh convention is lawfully convened.
The ruling deepens the leadership crisis within the PDP and raises fresh questions about the party’s preparedness for future electoral contests, as rival camps continue to battle for control amid judicial scrutiny and internal dissent.
