The leadership crisis rocking the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has intensified, as a faction aligned with the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, rejected the recent judgment of the Oyo State High Court upholding the party’s November 2025 national convention.
The Wike-backed National Caretaker Working Committee (NCWC), led by Mohammed Abdulrahman and Senator Samuel Anyanwu, described the ruling as inconsequential and lacking any binding force on the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
In a statement issued on Friday by its National Publicity Secretary, Jungudo Mohammed, the faction insisted that the November 15 and 16, 2025 convention in Ibadan remains invalid.
It maintained that subsisting judgments of the Federal High Court had earlier restrained INEC from attending, monitoring, or recognising the outcome of the exercise.
On Friday, the Oyo State High Court sitting in Ibadan upheld the convention, during which a National Working Committee led by Tanimu Turaki (SAN) was elected.
Justice Ladiran Akintola of Court 5 delivered the judgment after ruling on an application seeking joinder in the matter.
The court granted all 13 reliefs sought by the claimant, Folahan Malomo Adelabi, through his counsel, Musbau Adetunmbi.
However, the Wike-aligned faction dismissed the verdict as a “mere academic exercise,” arguing that INEC was neither joined nor represented in the suit and therefore cannot be bound by the ruling.
According to the statement, INEC had earlier challenged the jurisdiction of the Oyo State High Court and was subsequently struck out of the case.
The faction stressed that any judgment that does not bind INEC is of no practical effect regarding the recognition or monitoring of a party convention.
It further noted that INEC had complied with two subsisting judgments of the Federal High Court in Abuja, which expressly restrained the commission from attending or recognising the outcome of the November convention, referencing a January 30 judgment by the Federal High Court in Ibadan, which nullified the convention and ordered Turaki and his associates to stop parading themselves as national officers of the party.
Despite backing from PDP governors, who had supported the Ibadan convention and overseen the transition from former Acting National Chairman Umar Damagum to Turaki ahead of the expiration of Damagum’s tenure on December 9, the leadership dispute has remained unresolved.
On December 8, the Wike-aligned faction constituted a 13-member caretaker committee with a 60-day mandate, naming Abdulrahman as Acting National Chairman and Anyanwu as Acting National Secretary.
Tensions escalated on November 18, 2025, when attempts by both factions to convene at Wadata Plaza degenerated into disorder and physical clashes, prompting the police to seal the PDP National Secretariat. The facility has remained shut since.
Both camps later sought recognition from INEC, but the electoral body declined to acknowledge either faction, resulting in a protracted legal battle that now threatens to undermine the party’s preparedness for the 2027 general elections.
Amid the impasse, the Wike-backed caretaker committee announced that a fresh National Convention to elect new PDP leaders would be held in Abuja from March 29 to 30.
Meanwhile, the Court of Appeal on February 12 heard consolidated cases arising from the PDP leadership tussle and reserved judgment, with a date to be communicated to the parties.
The unfolding judicial contest and competing claims to party leadership have further deepened uncertainty within the PDP, raising concerns among stakeholders about its cohesion and electoral viability ahead of the next general election cycle.
