The Supreme Court of Nigeria has dismissed an appeal filed by the Taminu Turaki-led National Working Committee (NWC) of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), nullifying the party’s national convention held in Ibadan.
Gatekeepers News reports that delivering the majority judgment on Thursday, Justice Stephen Adah ruled that the convention, held in Ibadan, Oyo State, on November 15 and 16, 2025, was conducted in defiance of an existing order of the Federal High Court delivered by Justice James Omotosho.
The apex court faulted the Turaki-led faction for approaching a court of coordinate jurisdiction to obtain a fresh order instead of filing an appeal, describing the move as an abuse of court process. It warned that any litigant who engages in such conduct does so “at his or her own peril,” and subsequently dismissed the appeal for lack of merit.
The appellants, through their counsel, Paul Erokoro (SAN), had urged the court to overturn the Court of Appeal judgment which voided the convention for violating a subsisting court order. They also asked the court to dismiss a cross-appeal filed by a rival faction loyal to the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike.
However, the respondents, including former Jigawa State Governor Sule Lamido, argued that the issue went beyond internal party affairs and centred on disobedience to a valid court order.
Lamido had earlier secured an injunction from the Federal High Court restraining the PDP from holding the convention until he was allowed to contest for the position of national chairman. Despite the order, the party proceeded with the convention—an action later declared unlawful by both the trial court and the Court of Appeal.
The appellate court had ruled that the matter was not shielded by the doctrine of internal party affairs and consequently nullified the exercise.
Reaffirming the principle of the rule of law, the Supreme Court held that political parties, as vehicles for public office, are bound to obey court orders once they are aware of them.
“The conduct of the national convention of November 15, 2025, is null and void and is hereby nulled,” the court declared.
“This court will not lend its machinery to any litigant who abuses the process of the court. This appeal is lacking in merit and is hereby dismissed. Parties will bear their own costs.”
In a dissenting opinion, Justice Haruna Samani maintained that issues concerning party leadership fall within the internal affairs of political parties and are outside the jurisdiction of the courts. This position was supported by Justice Abubakar Umar, who cited earlier Supreme Court decisions that matters not related to party primaries are not pre-election disputes and are therefore not justiciable. Both justices, however, condemned the disobedience of court orders.
The lead majority judgment was delivered by Justice Adah and supported by Justices Mohammed Garba and Chidiebere Iheme.
The disputed Ibadan convention had worsened internal divisions within the PDP, leading to a series of expulsions and counter-expulsions. On March 29, a rival convention backed by Wike was held in Abuja, producing Abdulrahman Mohammed as substantive National Chairman and returning Samuel Anyanwu as National Secretary.
The Mohammed-led NWC later took control of the party’s national secretariat, which had previously been sealed by security agencies following clashes between opposing factions.
