Supreme Court reserves judgement on PDP's leadership dispute

The Supreme Court, on Wednesday. reserved judgement on the leadership disputes that have fractured the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) ahead of the 2027 general elections.

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The five-member panel of the court led by Garba Lawal, announced after Wednesday’s hearing that the judgement date would be communicated later to all parties to the case through their lawyers.

The appeal was brought by the Kabir Turaki-led faction of the PDP to challenge the judgement of the Court of Appeal in Abuja which upheld lower courts’ decisions invalidating his emergence as the party’s national chairman.

The disputed Court of Appeal’s judgement delivered on 9 March affirmed two major rulings of the Federal High Court in Abuja.

The decisions declared illegal the party’s convention held in Ibadan, Oyo State, from 15 to 16 November last year, which produced Mr Turaki and others as the party’s executives.

The lower courts not only nullified the Ibadan convention but also barred the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) from recognising its outcomes, including the election of party executives.

The judgements, including the latest one by the Court of Appeal, gave the faction aligned with the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, an advantage in the scramble for the control of the party.

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In late March, the Wike-backed faction, recognised by INEC, re-elected Abdulrahman Mohammed and Samuel Anyanwu as national chairman and national secretary, respectively.

But, displeased with the Court of Appeal judgement, the Turaki-faction lodged an appeal at the Supreme Court to overturn it.

Considering the significance of the matter – the outcome of which could impact the political landscape leading up to the 2027 general elections – the Supreme Court granted the Turaki-led faction’s request for an accelerated hearing of the appeal on 14 April and set it for today for arguments.

At Wednesday’s proceedings, the Supreme Court panel heard the arguments of lawyers to the parties. The lawyers adopted their written submissions and the court thereafter adjourned for judgement.

Background

Mr Turaki’s faction filed the appeal before the Supreme Court to challenge the 9 April decision of the Court of Appeal in Abuja invalidating the national convention organised by the Turaki-led faction which was held in Ibadan, Oyo State, between 15 and 16 November 2025.

A three-member panel of the Court of Appeal unanimously dismissed the appeals brought before it by the Mr Turaki-led faction of the party.

The court also awarded N2 million as cost against the appellants comprising Mr Turaki and other members of the National Working Committee (NWC).

In its unanimous decision, the appellate court upheld the judgement of the Federal High Court, which restrained the INEC from recognising or validating the proposed convention.

The court held that the Federal High Court had jurisdiction to hear the case, rejecting the argument by the Turaki faction that the dispute was purely an internal affair of the party.

The panel said the appellants could not “repackage a clear violation of the party constitution and that of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria as an internal party affair.”

While delivering the judgment, Judge Uchechukwu Onyemenam of the Court of Appeal also held that the PDP violated constitutional provisions required before such a convention could become valid.

He said no valid notice of the convention was served on the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, as required by law.

The judge held that the case of the aggrieved PDP members who instituted the suit against the party was not about internal party affairs, as erroneously argued, but a bid to compel INEC to comply with its statutory functions in relation to party conventions.

The appellate court also noted that valid congresses were not held in more than 14 states as required by law before the 2025 convention was conducted.

Having failed to comply with the relevant laws, the Court of Appeal said the Federal High Court was right in assuming jurisdiction and granting a restraining order against INEC from accepting or recognising the outcome of the PDP 2025 national convention.

The Turaki-led faction held its convention in Ibadan, Oyo State, in 2025, which was challenged by members of the rival group.

READ ALSO: PDP Crisis: There’s still room for defectors to come back – Wike

Different Federal High Court judges have since nullified the convention and all the decisions taken there. The decision was upheld by the Court of Appeal in Abuja, whose decision the Turaki faction is now challenging at the Supreme Court.

The PDP has grappled with various crises since losing power to the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) in 2015.

The party’s crises intensified after the 2023 general elections after disagreement over the zoning of its presidential ticket gradually tore its to factions.

Since last year, the party has suffered waves of defection that have reduced the number of states under its control to two, just as the ranks of its lawmakers in the National Assembly and across state Houses of Assembly have reduced drastically.