Political Storm In Imo: 83 PDP Members Drag State Chairman, INEC To Court Over Congress

Published August 13, 2025 at 2:43 PM

The leadership crisis rocking the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Imo State has deepened, as 83 aggrieved members have taken the party’s state chairman, Hon. Austin Nwachukwu, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), and others to court over the conduct of the state congress.

The plaintiffs contend that the August 31, 2024 congress, which produced Nwachukwu and other state executives, was “tainted by exclusion and illegality,” in breach of the Electoral Act 2022 and the PDP constitution.

Led by Lambert Eze, the disgruntled members accuse the party of deliberately shutting out duly elected delegates from Ideato North and South Local Government Areas during the exercise.

They are asking the court to void the congress, bar the current officials from functioning as executives, and order a fresh, transparent congress that accommodates all qualified delegates.

Also named in the suit are the PDP’s national leadership and 10 others, including Ideato North caretaker chairman Hon. Chris Ozoemenam and Ideato South caretaker chairman Hon. Dr. Sylvester Durukwuaku.

The case, filed through their counsel K.U. Alisigwe of Ononaku Chambers, Owerri, is marked FHC/OW/CS/51/2025. The plaintiffs maintain the congress was “unlawful, null, and void,” and want the court to protect what they describe as “the integrity of internal democracy in Imo PDP.”