End of the Road for PDP?

The recent nullification of the Ibadan convention of the Kabiru Tanimu Turaki-led faction of the Peoples Democratic Party by the Court of Appeal may have ended the party’s dominance as the main opposition party in Nigeria since the court-recognised faction is widely perceived by political analysts as a mere appendage of the ruling All Progressives Congress, Ejiofor Alike reports

When two judges of the Federal High Court – James Omotosho and Peter Lifu, in their separate decisions, handed down rulings stopping the National Convention of the majority faction of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) scheduled at Ibadan, the Oyo State capital on November 15-16, 2025, many analysts had expected the party to suspend the convention and seek the vacation of the order.

But unfortunately, that singular act of disobedience is now haunting the Kabiru Tanimu Turaki-led faction of the party.

Delivering judgment in a suit marked: FHC/ABJ/CS/2120/2025, Justice Omotosho, in October 2025, ordered that the convention be halted until the party complied with the statutory requirements of its own constitution, the Nigerian Constitution, and the Electoral Act.

The suit was instituted by three aggrieved members of the party — Austin Nwachukwu (Imo State PDP chairman), Amah Abraham Nnanna (Abia State PDP chairman), and Turnah Alabh George (PDP Secretary, South-South).

The plaintiffs, who were believed to be members of the rival faction of the party being promoted by the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Mr. Nyesom Wike, had asked the court to stop the PDP’s scheduled national convention in Ibadan.

Justice Omotosho, in the judgment, held that the evidence before the court established that the party failed to comply with the provisions of the 1999 Constitution (as amended), the guidelines of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), and the PDP’s own constitution.

In a similar ruling, Justice Lifu of a Federal High Court in Abuja, also ordered the PDP to put on hold the said national convention.

The judge predicated his decision on the grounds that the convention would violate the party’s Constitution and guidelines as well as the right of the plaintiff, a former Jigawa State governor, Mr. Sule Lamido.

Lamido had dragged the party to Justice Lifu’s court, for refusing to sell nomination forms to him, as the party had claimed that it had closed its sales of nomination forms.

Justice Lifu, in his judgment, held that the PDP was wrong in excluding Lamido because the former governor was qualified to contest for an elective position at the convention.

Lifu, in addition, made an order prohibiting the INEC from supervising, monitoring or giving effect to the outcome of the convention, until the plaintiff was given the opportunity to purchase nomination form that would enable him contest elective position at the convention.

Legal analysts who argued that court order must be obeyed first before being challenged in a higher court, had expected the party to abide by the rulings of the two judges.

However, rather than returning to the judges to seek the vacation of the order or approaching a higher court to nullify the rulings, the faction relied on the counter-decisions from the Oyo State High Court and organised the convention that produced Turaki as the national chairman of the main opposition party.

Though the Turaki-led faction had approached the appellate court seeking an order nullifying Justice Lifu’s judgement, it went ahead with the convention, in flagrant disobedience of two court orders.

In what was described as judicial rascality, an Oyo State High Court presided over by Justice AL Akintola, on November 4, 2025, ordered the PDP to proceed with the convention following an ex parte application filed by Folahan Malomo Adelabi.

Also, in what was perceived as selective obedience of court order, the PDP obeyed the decision of the Oyo State High Court.

However, the Court of Appeal in Abuja last week declared as unlawful the said convention.

Delivering judgement in the appeal brought by the Turaki’s camp against Justice Lifu’s order, a three-member panel of the appellate court, in the judgement, held that the convention was done in flagrant disobedience to an order of court.

The appellate court stated that it was wrong of the party to have proceeded with the convention, in disregard of a subsisting order restraining it.

Though the Turaki’s camp had approached the appellate court seeking an order nullifying Justice Lifu’s judgement, it proceeded with the convention without waiting for Justice Lifu’s restraining order to be nullified 

Consequently, Justice Uchechukwu Onyemenam, who delivered the unanimous judgement of the Court of Appeal, observed that PDP, instead of appealing against the Federal High Court’s decision, opted for a court of coordinate jurisdiction, where it got a favourable judgement that was obeyed.

The court held that the denial of Lamido the opportunity to exercise his right by purchasing a nomination form for the position of national chairman could not be an internal affair of PDP, adding that internal affairs are not absolute.

Onyemenam took a swipe at the Turaki’s faction for disobeying a lawful order and resorting to self-help by running around a court of coordinate jurisdiction to get favourable judgement.

The court held that resorting to selective obedience of court judgments cannot be helpful to the party.

Following the judgement of the appeal court, the PDP leadership immediately headed to the Supreme Court, according to a statement by its national publicity secretary, Ini Ememobong.

Also, speaking shortly after the appellate court nullified the party’s convention that produced him as national chairman, Turaki also hinted that the party would appeal the judgement.

But reacting to the judgement, a former acting National Secretary of PDP, and one of the leaders of Wike’s faction, Senator Samuel Anyanwu, described the appeal court verdict as victory to all PDP members.

Similarly, Wike, who is the promoter of the court-recognised faction, described the appellate court’s verdict as a “vital reminder” that political parties must operate strictly within the boundaries of the Nigerian Constitution, the Electoral Act, and internal party guidelines.

The FCT minister revealed that the party’s National Caretaker Committee had secured a venue near the National Stadium in Abuja to host a fresh National Convention on March 29 and 30, 2026.

Wike, who holds a strategic position in the APC-led government, has thrown his weight behind the re-election of President Bola Tinubu in 2027.

With Wike’s pro-Tinubu campaigns since the 2023 general election, coupled with the support his faction of the PDP gave to APC in Rivers and Edo states, it is not surprising that political analysts perceive his faction as a mere appendage of the APC.

Indeed, many believe the mission of Wike’s group is to weaken the PDP and facilitate Tinubu’s victory in 2027, exactly the same way the defunct G-5 governors Wike had led facilitated the defeat of the party and its presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, in the 2023 presidential election.

Therefore, many watchers of the PDP crisis also believe that unless the Supreme Court delivers judgement in favour of the Turaki-led faction, the PDP may become so weak that it won’t be able to provide viable opposition to the ruling party.