The Supreme Court on Wednesday reserved judgment in an appeal challenging the validity of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) national convention held in Ibadan, Oyo State, on November 15 and 16, 2025.
The appeal, marked SC/CV/164/2026, was filed by the Tanimu Turaki, SAN-led factional executives who emerged from the disputed convention. They are asking the apex court to overturn the decisions of the Federal High Court and the Court of Appeal in Abuja, which had nullified the convention and restrained its recognition.
A five-member panel led by Justice Mohammed Lawal Garba, which earlier granted accelerated hearing on April 14, reserved judgment after all parties adopted their final written arguments. The court said the date for judgment would be communicated later.
The appellants, represented by Chief Paul Erokoro, SAN, urged the Supreme Court to allow the appeal and dismiss a cross-appeal filed by a rival faction aligned with the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike.
However, the respondents, including Sule Lamido’s counsel (SAN J. C. Njikonye) and Wike-aligned lawyers (SAN J. B. Daudu), raised preliminary objections, arguing that the matter goes beyond internal party affairs and is therefore justiciable. They maintained that both lower courts acted within jurisdiction.
The dispute stems from a Federal High Court judgment by Justice Peter Lifu, which stopped the Ibadan convention and barred INEC from supervising or recognizing it unless former Jigawa Governor Sule Lamido was allowed to contest for National Chairman. The court held that Lamido was wrongly denied a nomination form, breaching the PDP constitution and internal guidelines.
Despite the restraining order, the PDP proceeded with the convention, prompting the Court of Appeal to condemn the action as disobedience of court orders and an abuse of judicial process.
In a related appeal, the Supreme Court is also reviewing a second case involving the same Ibadan convention. The PDP National Working Committee and National Executive Committee are challenging the Court of Appeal’s decision which upheld earlier judgments invalidating the convention.
The appellate court had ruled that the convention breached statutory requirements, including failure to conduct valid state congresses in 14 states and improper issuance of notice signed only by the National Chairman. It also affirmed that INEC was right not to recognize the outcome.
The Court of Appeal dismissed arguments that the matter was an internal party issue, holding that compliance with the Electoral Act, the Constitution, and INEC guidelines made it justiciable.
The long-running dispute has split the PDP into factions, with rival groups conducting separate conventions in Ibadan and Abuja, each producing competing leadership structures.
The Supreme Court’s final ruling is expected to determine the legitimacy of the disputed PDP convention and potentially reshape the party’s national leadership crisis.
