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• Wike-backed faction hails ruling, Turaki faction heads to Appeal Court
By Oluseye Ojo
The leadership crisis rocking the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) deepened on Friday as the Federal High Court, sitting in Ibadan, Oyo State, nullified the party’s national convention held in the city on November 15, 2025.
As gathered, the judgment dealt a major legal blow to the Kabiru Tanimu Turaki-led National Working Committee (NWC).
In the judgment that has sent shockwaves through the opposition party, the court declared the Ibadan convention illegal, null and void.
The judgment set aside all resolutions and decisions reached at the gathering, including the emergence of a new national leadership.
Delivering the ruling, the trial judge, Justice Uche Agomoh, held that the PDP acted in defiance of subsisting court orders and failed to comply with its own constitution and established legal processes before convening the convention.
The court ruled that a political party, regardless of its internal arrangements, must operate within the confines of the law, stressing that any action taken in violation of valid court orders cannot stand.
The court restrained Turaki and other officers elected at the Ibadan convention from parading themselves as national officers of the PDP, pending the conduct of a valid and legally compliant convention.
The court further affirmed that the PDP Caretaker Committee, recognised by earlier judicial pronouncements, which has Jungude Mohammed as National Chairman and Senator Samuel Anyanwu as Acting National Secretary, remains the legitimate leadership of the party until due process is followed.
The Ibadan convention was convened amid intense factional battles within the PDP over leadership control, delegate legitimacy and the interpretation of earlier court rulings.
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The Ibadan Convention elected 20 NWC members, comprising Turaki as national chairman, Hamza Akuyan Koshe as deputy national chairman (North), Daniel Ambrose Woye as deputy national chairman (South), and Alhaji Taofeek Arapaja as national secretary.
Multiple suits had been instituted before and after the convention, with warning signals already raised when the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) declined to recognise the outcome of the gathering, citing unresolved legal issues. The commission neither recognised the leaders produced by Ibadan Convention, nor the Caretaker Committee, which culminated into a flurry of court cases ahead of the 2027 general elections.
Meanwhile, the Turaki-led NWC, which is being backed by Governor Seyi Makinde of Oyo State, swiftly rejected the ruling, describing it as misinterpreted by the opposing faction and insisting that the leadership that emerged from the Ibadan convention remains valid.
In a statement issued by the party’s National Publicity Secretary, Ini Ememobong, on Friday, the PDP announced that its legal team has been directed to file an immediate appeal against the judgment.
According to the party, the court did not make a definitive pronouncement extinguishing the mandate of the NWC but merely declined certain reliefs sought by the plaintiffs.
The PDP urged its members nationwide to remain calm, united and focused, assuring them that the appellate courts would “do justice to the matter.”
In the same vein, the camp loyal to the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, has welcomed the ruling, describing it as a victory for the rule of law and internal party democracy.
The Caretaker Committee, led by Abdulrahman Mohammed, in a statement by its National Publicity Secretary, Jungude Mohammed, said the judgment validated their long-held position that the Ibadan convention was convened in disregard of court orders and party rules.
They called on all factions to respect the judgment, sheathe their swords and work towards genuine reconciliation and a lawful convention that would reposition the PDP ahead of the 2027 general elections.
The Wike camp also urged the party leadership to prioritise unity over personal ambition, warning that prolonged internal strife could further weaken the party’s electoral fortunes.
