The Court of Appeal in Abuja has fixed Thursday (12 February) for hearing of multiple suits regarding the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) national convention held November last year in Ibadan, Oyo State.
A three-member panel of the court led by Mohammed Danjuma will consider eight separate appeals questioning the validity of the convention that produced the Kabiru Tanimu Turaki–led National Working Committee (NWC).
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Vanguard newspaper reported that the appeals arose from multiple court rulings on whether the event could proceed, which triggered a deep legal crisis within the party. But the report did not disclose how the Court of Appeal scheduled the hearing and notified parties of the hearing date.
On 31 October last year, the Federal High Court, Abuja, ruled that the planned national convention violated the Nigerian Constitution, the guidelines of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), and the PDP constitution, because the party had not conducted valid state congresses ahead of the convention.
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The judge, James Omotosho, stopped the convention and barred INEC from supervising it.
Days later, another judge of the High Court in Ibadan, directed the PDP and its then national chairman to proceed with the convention and asked INEC to monitor it.
But on 11 November 2025, another Federal High Court judge in Abuja, Peter Lifu, again restrained the PDP from holding the convention.
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The order came in a suit filed by former Jigawa State Governor Sule Lamido, who argued that he was denied the opportunity to purchase nomination forms to contest for the party’s national chairmanship.
Despite the two orders from the Federal High Court in Abuja blocking the convention, the Turaki-led faction proceeded with the exercise on between 15 and 16 November in Ibadan, where delegates elected a new NWC now headed by Mr Turaki.
However, INEC declined to recognise the Turaki-led leadership. The commission cited subsisting court orders and ongoing litigation that barred the commission from updating or acting on the list of national officers.
Following this, the Turaki-led faction filed a suit seeking recognition of the Ibadan convention and validation of the elected NWC. But the Federal High Court in Ibadan instead nullified the entire convention.
The judge ruled that the conversation was held in “flagrant disobedience” to existing judgments, and that the caretaker committee remained the recognised leadership until a valid convention was held.
In response, the faction that organised the Ibadan convention said it would appeal the nullification to higher courts.
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