The Supreme Court of Nigeria on Wednesday reserved judgment in the appeal filed by the Kabiru Tanimu Turaki-led faction of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), challenging the nullification of the party’s 2025 national convention.
A five-member panel of the apex court, led by Justice Lawal Garba, announced that the date for judgment delivery would be communicated to parties after counsel had adopted their final written addresses.
The Turaki-led faction is seeking to overturn the March 9 decision of the Court of Appeal, which upheld earlier rulings voiding the PDP national convention held in Ibadan on November 15 and 16, 2025.
At the Supreme Court hearing, counsel for the faction argued that the dispute is strictly an internal party matter and therefore not justiciable, maintaining that the convention was conducted in compliance with due process and the party’s constitution.
However, lower courts had consistently ruled against the faction. The Federal High Court in Abuja and the Court of Appeal had nullified the convention, restrained the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) from recognising its outcome, and issued orders affecting access to the party’s national secretariat.
The appellate court had earlier affirmed two separate Federal High Court judgments which stopped the PDP from proceeding with the convention until it complied with provisions of the Electoral Act and the 2022 Regulations and Guidelines for Political Parties.
In one of the rulings, Justice James Omotosho held that the party failed to conduct valid state congresses as required by law and its constitution, rendering the planned convention invalid.
In another decision, Justice Peter Lifu restrained the party from proceeding with the convention until former Jigawa State Governor, Sule Lamido, was allowed to participate in the national chairmanship contest, after finding that he was unlawfully excluded.
The suits that triggered the legal battles were filed by aggrieved party members, including state executives from Imo, Abia, and the South-South region, escalating into the prolonged leadership crisis now before the Supreme Court.
Details later…
