The Court of Appeal in Abuja has fixed February 12, 2026, for the commencement of hearings to determine the legality of the Peoples Democratic Party PDP National Convention held in Ibadan, Oyo State, in November 2025.
A three member panel of the appellate court, led by Justice Mohammed Danjuma, on Tuesday scheduled the date to hear eight appeals challenging the conduct and outcome of the convention held on November 15 and 16, 2025, which produced the Tanimu Turaki led national executive of the party.
The appeals arose from three separate judgments delivered by different courts and were filed by a faction aligned with Oyo State Governor, Seyi Makinde. The group is seeking to reclaim control of the party from loyalists of the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike.
At the proceedings on Tuesday, the Court of Appeal considered the eight appeals together, all linked to conflicting court orders issued before and after the Ibadan convention.
Before the convention was held, two judges of the Federal High Court in Abuja had restrained the PDP from proceeding with the exercise. However, a High Court in Ibadan subsequently granted approval for the convention and ordered the Independent National Electoral Commission INEC to monitor, supervise and recognise its outcome.
Justice Olaniran Akintola of the Oyo State High Court, in a ruling on an ex parte application filed by a PDP member in the state, Mr Folahan Malomo Adelabi, directed INEC to attend and monitor the convention for the election of new national officers. The ruling was delivered less than seventy two hours after Justice James Omotosho of the Federal High Court in Abuja issued a contrary order barring INEC from participating in or recognising the convention.
Justice Akintola specifically restrained the defendants in suit marked /1336/2025 from taking any action capable of disrupting or stopping “the Guidelines, Timetable and Schedule of Activity and or disrupting, preventing and or stopping the conduct of the Scheduled National Convention of the Peoples Democratic Party PDP fixed for November 15 and 16, 2025 at Ibadan to elect officers of the said party at national, pending the hearing and determination of motion on notice”.
In contrast, Justice Omotosho, in a judgment delivered in a suit filed by aggrieved PDP members including Austin Nwachukwu, Imo PDP Chairman, Amah Abraham Nnanna, Abia PDP Chairman, and Turnah Alabh George, PDP Secretary South South, restrained INEC from recognising the outcome of any convention conducted in violation of the law.
“INEC should not accept the results of any convention in breach of the law,” Omotosho held, further directing that the electoral body should not publish on its website any action done in breach of the Electoral Act or other relevant laws.
Justice Omotosho ruled that the PDP violated its own guidelines in the build up to the Ibadan convention and stressed that the matter went beyond the internal affairs of the party.
“A suit challenging the executive decision of INEC is not an internal affairs of a political party,” he said, adding that INEC is empowered by law to monitor and invalidate party conventions that fail to meet statutory requirements as a punitive measure to curb abuses.
He further explained that while INEC may not be able to stop political parties from holding conventions, the Electoral Act authorises it to “invalidate such deficient meetings, congresses and conventions”.
Meanwhile, Justice Peter Lifu, in a separate judgment, restrained the PDP from proceeding with the convention on the grounds that former Jigawa State Governor, Sule Lamido, was unlawfully excluded from contesting the position of national chairman.
With the conflicting judgments now before it, the Court of Appeal has agreed to examine the merits of all claims and counterclaims. The outcome of the February 12 hearing is expected to determine the legal status of the Ibadan convention and significantly influence the future leadership and direction of the PDP.
