The Court of Appeal in Abuja on Monday upheld a judgment that prohibited the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) from proceeding with the national convention it held in Ibadan, Oyo State, on November 15 and 16, 2026. The convention, which sought to establish a new leadership structure for the party, had produced a factional leadership with Senior Advocate of Nigeria Taminu Turaki, SAN, appointed as National Chairman.
In a unanimous ruling, a three-member panel of the appellate court determined that the statutory conditions required to hold the convention had not been fulfilled. The court affirmed that the earlier judgment delivered by Justice James Omotosho of the Federal High Court in Abuja on October 31, 2025, which had stopped the convention, was correct and legally sound.
The Turaki-led faction of the party had argued that the court lacked the jurisdiction to intervene in what they described as internal affairs of the PDP. However, the appellate court rejected this claim, asserting that the trial court had appropriately exercised its jurisdiction. According to the court, the matter was not simply internal; it concerned compliance with the provisions of the Electoral Act, the 1999 Constitution (as amended), and the guidelines and regulations governing political parties.
The appellate panel further noted that the substantive suit that triggered the high court’s intervention had merit. The case, marked CA/ABJ/CV/1613/2025, was ultimately dismissed with a cost of N2 million imposed on the Turaki-led faction.
The high court’s original judgment had highlighted several critical deficiencies in the way the PDP organized its convention. Evidence presented showed that the party had failed to conduct valid state congresses in 14 states, a requirement necessary to produce delegates eligible to vote at the national convention. Without these congresses, the court held, it was impossible for the convention to proceed legitimately.
Additionally, the court found that the notices for the national convention had been issued solely by the party’s National Chairman, excluding the National Secretary, which rendered the notices legally defective. Justice Omotosho ruled that these correspondences were “null and void in the eyes of the law” and emphasized that the PDP’s failure to adhere to statutory procedures placed the planned convention in jeopardy.
The judgment directed the PDP to restructure its internal processes and to ensure that a proper 21-day notice of meetings and congresses was sent to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC). This would allow the electoral body to monitor the proceedings, in line with constitutional and statutory requirements.
The defendants in the case included INEC, the PDP, its National Chairman Ambassador Umar Iliya Damagum, National Secretary Senator Samuel Anyanwu, National Organising Secretary Umar Bature, and other national officers and committees of the party. The plaintiffs—three aggrieved party members aligned with a faction loyal to the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike—argued that the party had failed to serve valid notices on INEC and, therefore, could not hold a legally recognized convention.
The courts agreed, restraining INEC from receiving, publishing, or recognizing any outcome from the Ibadan convention until the PDP fully complied with the constitutional and statutory requirements. The court stressed that a political party could not lawfully conduct a national convention or have its outcomes validated without first providing a proper framework for the election of delegates and strict adherence to the law.
Despite the court’s ruling, the Turaki-led faction had briefly secured a contradictory order allowing the convention to proceed. However, their appeal against the high court judgment was ultimately dismissed by the Court of Appeal, affirming that the PDP must follow the proper legal processes before holding any national convention.
This judgment underscores the judiciary’s role in ensuring political parties adhere to statutory regulations, maintain internal democracy, and operate within the framework of the 1999 Constitution, the Electoral Act 2022, and INEC’s guidelines, safeguarding the integrity of party operations and electoral processes
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