Despite numerous court judgments stopping the elective national convention of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) billed for Ibadan, the Oyo State capital, on Saturday (today), the party has proceeded with the exercise.
There are three subsisting judgements on the two-day convention.
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On 31 October, James Omotosho, a judge of the Federal High Court, Abuja, halted the convention, referencing the absence of valid congresses. He ordered the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) not to monitor or supervise the exercise.
The judgement came a few weeks after he refused an interim injunction sought by some members of the party loyal to the FCT Minister, Nyesom Wike.
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However, on 4 November A. L. Akintola, a judge of the Oyo State High Court, ordered the PDP to proceed with the convention and ordered INEC to monitor it.
Meanwhile, at that point, the dispute shifted to questions of judicial authority regarding which court had the power to determine the matter, and whether jurisdictional differences between Abuja and Ibadan affected the validity of their competing orders.
Even so, barely a week after the last judgement, Peter Lifu of the Federal High Court in Abuja, on 11 November, delivering a judgement in a suit brought by a former Jigawa governor, Sule Lamido, again stopped the convention and directed INEC not to recognise it.
The governor filed the suit because he was not allowed to buy the nomination form to run for the office of the party’s national chairman.
Some northern leaders of the PDP had, about a week earlier, picked a former Special Duties Minister, Kabiru Turaki, as the consensus candidate of the party to be presented at the national convention. Mr Lamido disagreed with them, insisting he would contest for the party’s topmost seat.
On Friday, 14 November, just a few hours before the scheduled convention, Mr Lifu issued a final order halting the exercise until Mr Lamido was accommodated.
Despite the flurry of judgements, the party led by Umar Damagum, its national chairman, insisted it would go ahead with the convention.
Rising from a stakeholders’ meeting earlier in Abuja, the Chairman of the National Convention Committee (NCOC), Governor Umar Fintiri of Adamawa State, told journalists the party would hold the convention.
“We have just come out of our critical stakeholders meeting, where a lot of elaborate decisions were taken. I want to tell you here that we are going to Ibadan for our convention and the convention is sacrosanct,” Mr Fintiri said.
At the time of this report, preparations for the convention were in top gear as delegates from the 36 states and FCT had started to arrive in the Oyo Statecapital.
New leaders are expected to emerge from the convention, replacing the current NWC led by Mr Damagum. If eventually held, the exercise will potentially set the tone for the selection of the party’s 2027 presidential candidate.
The Genesis
The decision to hold the convention on 15 and 16 November was first adopted at the 101st NEC meeting on 24 July and reaffirmed at the 102nd NEC meeting on 25 August in Abuja, where Mr Damagum was confirmed as substantive national chairman.
At that meeting, the NEC resolved to zone the party’s 2027 presidential ticket to the South and retain the chairmanship position in the North.
Mr Wike, who had led a group of the PDP governors, known as G-5, welcomed the zoning decision, noting that it aligned with what he and the governors demanded during the 2023 elections, a dispute that contributed to the defeat of its standard bearer, Atiku Abubakar.
But tensions soon resurfaced, with some party officials insisting that state congresses must be conducted before any convention, in line with the PDP Constitution.
Three Wike’s allies, Austine Nwachukwu, Imo State PDP chairman; Amah Nnanna, Abia PDP chairman, and Turnah George, secretary of the PDP South-South zone, championed this position. They went to court seeking an order to stop the convention and restrain INEC from monitoring any PDP meeting not backed by valid congresses. The suit gave rise to the 31 October judgement by Mr Omotosho.
What should have been a routine gathering to elect new officers turned into a struggle for power, legality, and legitimacy, with the PDP’s future hanging in the balance.
Birth of a faction
The Wike-backed faction, led by embattled National Secretary, Samuel Anyanwu, appointed Mohammed Abdulrahman as its acting national chairman. Mr Mohammed is the party’s national vice chairman, North-central.
The other faction recognises Mr Damagum as substantive chair.
The rift originated from disagreements over preparations for the convention. Mr Wike’s loyalists argue that the party violated its constitution by failing to conduct valid congresses.
The NWC responded by suspending Mr Anyanwu, National Legal Adviser Kamaldeen Ajibade (SAN), Deputy Legal Adviser Okechukwu Osuoha, and National Organising Secretary Umaru Bature.
Although their specific offences were not stated, the suspensions are widely believed to relate to alleged anti-party activities.
In retaliation, the Wike-Anyanwu group announced the suspension of Mr Damagum and five others. They referenced a Supreme Court judgement granting political parties authority to resolve internal disputes without court interference.
Both camps published conflicting newspaper adverts, one announcing the suspension of the convention based on court orders, the other insisting it will proceed.
Mr Wike, though a member of the PDP, serves as a minister in President Bola Tinubu’s administration of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC). His continued influence in the PDP, despite his position in a rival party, has been a major source of resentment, with critics accusing him of anti-party activities.His loyalists have relied on political manoeuvres and court injunctions to stall the convention. They have also considered holding a parallel National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting to legitimise decisions favourable to their camp.
Who should convene a convention?
Section 29(2)(a) of the PDP constitution empowers the NEC to convene the national convention and appoint a Convention Organising Committee responsible for circulating information and reflecting members’ concerns. The constitution further mandates adequate notice to members and the election of delegates from ward to state levels.
Section 49(1) provides that conventions and congresses at all levels shall elect party officers.Section 50(1) gives the NEC final authority to resolve disputes relating to the choice of candidates, implying that disagreements over convention arrangements must first be resolved internally before recourse to the courts.
Mr Omotosho, in his initial ruling on the interim injunction sought by Mr Wike’s allies, also emphasised the party’s obligation to explore internal mechanisms before litigation.While the Wike faction’s concerns about invalid congresses have constitutional merit, the decision to bypass internal mechanisms and seek judicial intervention has further deepened the crisis.
The power players
Mr Wike remains a powerful force within the PDP despite serving in an APC-led administration. He accuses the Damagum-led NWC of violating party principles and preparing an illegitimate convention. For him, the struggle is about controlling the party’s structure ahead of 2027.
On the flip side is Governor Seyi Makinde of Oyo State, a leading figure in the pro-convention camp. Hosting the convention in Ibadan, he has publicly urged the PDP to move forward and avoid being held hostage by vested interests. State party chairmen recently met with him and passed a vote of confidence in the Damagum-led NWC.
Mr Makinde’s role is crucial. He represents a coalition of governors and party structures seeking to stabilise the PDP ahead of 2027. He is also believed to be quietly nursing presidential ambitions.
Possible scenarios ahead
Reconciliation and caretaker arrangement: Party elders and the BoT may push both factions to suspend the convention and install a neutral caretaker committee. A former Senate President, Bukola Saraki, has already proposed this, noting that the conflicting court orders pose a threat to the credibility of any convention outcome.
While playing host to the members of the PDP Board of Trustees (BoT) Reconciliation Committee, Mr Saraki, who heads the reconciliation committee of the PDP, said he made the suggestion because of the various court judgements on the convention.
“As it stands, the fact is that there are conflicting court orders in relation to the validity of the scheduled convention. As a result, there is no assurance as to whether the conduct and outcome of the convention will stand,” he said.
If the PDP goes with the option of appointing an interim caretaker committee executive, it would not be the first time. In 2016, the PDP replaced Ali-Modu Sheriff with Ahmed Makarfi, a former Kaduna governor, as interim chairman amid similar chaos, after rival factions held parallel conventions in Port Harcourt and Abuja.
However, analysts have not only foreseen further disagreement over the membership of the committee but also predict it would strengthen Mr Wike’s loyalists to further undermine and destablise the party to the benefit of the APC in the 2027 polls. The minister has since pledged support for President Bola Tinubu, who has been endorsed by the APC to fly its flag in 2027.
Proceeding with the controversial convention
The Damagum-led faction may proceed with the Ibadan convention despite court injunctions. But such a move risks future nullification if courts rule against it, potentially invalidating the elected executives and presidential candidate, deepening the party’s crisis.
What’s at stake
For the PDP, the stakes could not be higher. Once Nigeria’s dominant ruling party between 1999 and 2015, it is now struggling for survival and relevance. It now risks further fragmentation at a time when it needs unity to challenge the APC in 2027.
The crisis has already triggered defections, and more could follow, particularly among first-term governors and lawmakers reluctant to remain in a destabilised party.
Some influential opposition voices like former Sokoto Governor, Aminu Tambuwal, Seriake Dickson of Bayelsa, and Abdul Ningi of Bauchi may even consider alternative platforms such as the ADC if the PDP fails to manage its crisis.
If the convention does not hold and the party cannot reconcile before December, when the tenure of the current NWC expires, the PDP may enter the 2027 election cycle deeply fractured.
Analysts maintained that only consensus, adherence to the party’s constitution, and internal discipline can save the PDP from implosion. Without this, the party risks prolonged litigation, parallel structures, mass defections, and a diminished role as a national opposition force.
