Appeal Court Sets Date To Decide PDP National Convention Dispute

The legal battle over the validity of the November 15–16, 2025 National Convention of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) is set to begin at the Court of Appeal, Abuja, on February 12, 2026.....KINDLY READ THE FULL STORY HERE▶

A three-member panel of the appellate court, led by Justice Mohammed Danjuma, fixed the date to hear eight separate appeals challenging the Ibadan convention that produced the Tanimu Turaki-led National Executive Committee.

At Tuesday’s proceedings, the court considered appeals stemming from three different judgments on the contentious Ibadan convention, filed by the pro-Seyi Makinde faction aiming to wrest control of the party from supporters of Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike.

The convention had exacerbated divisions within the PDP, polarizing the party into rival factions and resulting in conflicting court orders.

Earlier, two Federal High Court judges in Abuja had restrained the PDP from holding the convention, while an Oyo State High Court granted the party approval to proceed and directed the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to monitor and recognize the outcome.

Justice Olaniran Akintola of the Oyo State High Court, in an ex-parte ruling filed by Mr. Folahan Malomo Adelabi, ordered INEC to observe and supervise the convention. His directive came just 72 hours after Justice James Omotosho of the Federal High Court in Abuja issued a contrary order restraining INEC from participating in or recognizing the convention’s outcome.

Justice Akintola specifically barred defendants from taking any action that could “truncate or frustrate the Guidelines, Timetable and Schedule of Activity and/or disrupt, prevent or stop the conduct of the Scheduled National Convention” pending the hearing of the substantive motion.

Conversely, Justice Omotosho, in a suit filed by aggrieved PDP members including Hon. Austin Nwachukwu (Imo PDP chairman), Hon. Amah Abraham Nnanna (Abia PDP chairman), and Turnah Alabh George (PDP Secretary, South-South), ruled that INEC should not recognize results of any convention conducted in violation of the law.

He further restrained INEC from publishing on its website any action taken in contravention of the Electoral Act or other applicable laws, emphasizing that the matter was not purely an internal party issue.

“A suit challenging the executive decision of INEC is not an internal affair of a political party,” Omotosho stated, noting that INEC has the statutory authority to supervise and regulate party congresses and conventions. He found that the PDP failed to adhere to legal provisions before the Ibadan convention, granting INEC the power to invalidate conventions conducted unlawfully.

In a related ruling, Justice Peter Lifu barred the PDP from proceeding with the convention due to allegations that former Jigawa State Governor, Sule Lamido, was excluded from contesting the party’s national chairmanship.

The multiplicity of court judgments intensified the PDP’s internal crisis and set the stage for the appellate showdown.

The Court of Appeal will examine the merits of all eight appeals and deliver a definitive ruling when the case is heard on February 12.