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The Supreme Court has voided the national convention of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, held in Ibadan, Oyo State, on November 15 and 16, 2025, ruling that the exercise was conducted in violation of a subsisting court order.
In a split decision delivered on Tuesday, three of the five justices of the apex court dismissed the appeal filed by the factional PDP leadership produced at the Ibadan convention, holding that the appeal lacked merit.
Delivering the lead judgment, Justice Stephen Adah held that the appellants acted in breach of a valid order of the Federal High Court, which had restrained the party from proceeding with the convention pending the fulfilment of certain conditions.
The apex court upheld earlier decisions that nullified the convention and set aside the national executive that emerged from it.
Justice Adah said the convention was conducted in flagrant disobedience to the judgment of the Federal High Court, stressing that disobedience to a lawful court order was a serious affront to the rule of law and the authority of the judiciary.
The majority judgment also condemned what it described as forum shopping by the organisers of the convention, who approached the Oyo State High Court in Ibadan to obtain a favourable judgment despite the existence of proceedings before the Federal High Court.
The court noted that the Federal High Court and the Oyo State High Court are courts of coordinate jurisdiction, describing the actions of the parties and lawyers involved as embarrassing and unacceptable.
However, in their minority judgment, Justices Haruna Tsanami and Abubakar Umar held that the dispute was an internal affair of the PDP and ought not to have been adjudicated upon by the courts.
They also held that former Jigawa State Governor, Sule Lamido, who challenged his exclusion from the chairmanship contest, failed to exhaust the party’s internal dispute resolution mechanisms before approaching the Federal High Court.
The minority justices consequently held that the matter was not justiciable.
The legal dispute followed the PDP convention organised in Ibadan by a faction of the party associated with Oyo State Governor, Seyi Makinde, and Bauchi State Governor, Bala Mohammed. The convention produced a national executive led by former Jigawa State Governor, Kabiru Tanimu Turaki.
Before the convention, the Federal High Court in Abuja had restrained the party from proceeding with the exercise. Justice James Omotosho ruled in October 2025 that the party had failed to conduct valid state congresses as required by the 1999 Constitution, INEC guidelines, and the PDP constitution.
In another suit, Justice Peter Lifu of the Federal High Court ordered the party not to proceed with the convention until Sule Lamido was given the opportunity to prepare and contest for the position of national chairman.
Lamido had approached the court after alleging that he was denied the opportunity to purchase the nomination form for the chairmanship race.
Despite the court orders, the party proceeded with the convention, insisting that the matter was an internal party affair beyond judicial intervention.
Reacting to the Supreme Court ruling, the Chairman of the PDP in Enugu State, Mr Vitus Okechi, called on members of the party to close ranks and work together in the interest of the party.
Okechi, in a telephone interview with the News Agency of Nigeria, described the judgment as a “no victor, no vanquished” situation, urging aggrieved members to return and contribute to rebuilding the party.
“There is no winner and no loser; we are all one family and there is no victor, no vanquished.
“I am calling on the PDP family to unite; let us move the party forward,” he said.
He expressed confidence that the party would recover from the crisis and remain competitive ahead of the 2027 elections.
According to him, aspirants within the party are already consulting and preparing for future elections, adding that the PDP remains positioned to bounce back, particularly in Enugu State.
Okechi urged supporters not to be discouraged by the development but to remain committed to the party as efforts continue to strengthen its structures.
Source: News Agency of Nigeria (NAN)
