By Divine Sam
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has filed a suit at the Federal High Court in Abuja seeking to stop the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) from recognising the party’s national convention held in Ibadan, Oyo State, on November 15 and 16.
The case, marked FHC/ABJ/CS/2501/2025, was instituted by the faction loyal to the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, including the acting national chairman, Mohammed Abdulrahman, and national secretary, Samuel Anyanwu. They are asking the court to declare the Ibadan convention and all resolutions from it “null, void, and of no effect.”
At the convention, Anyanwu, Wike, former Ekiti Governor Ayo Fayose, and eight other leaders were expelled from the party.
The plaintiffs also seek an order restraining INEC and security agencies from recognising the newly elected national chairman, Umar Damagum, former minister Kabiru Turaki, and other officers listed as the 6th to 25th defendants.
In their originating summons, the plaintiffs argued that the Ibadan convention violated three subsisting Federal High Court judgments:
- The October 31 ruling in FHC/ABJ/CS/2120/2025: Austine Nwachukwu v INEC & Ors,
- The interim order of November 11 and judgment of November 14 in FHC/ABJ/CS/2299/2025: Sule Lamido v PDP & Ors, and
- The May 31, 2023 decision in FHC/ABJ/CS/139/2023: Nyesom Wike v PDP & Ors.
According to them, these judgments invalidated the 21-day notice for the convention and barred the party from holding it. Nonetheless, they claim, the defendants “organised themselves and their cohorts” to conduct the exercise, during which they elected new national officers and announced several suspensions and expulsions.
In an affidavit, Anyanwu stated that the faction that organised the convention attempted to “forcibly take control” of the PDP national secretariat at Wadata Plaza and Legacy House on November 18 but failed. He said the police and the Department of State Services (DSS) instead sealed the secretariat, preventing legitimate officials from gaining access.
The plaintiffs want the court to declare that INEC, the Inspector-General of Police, the FCT Commissioner of Police, and the DSS are constitutionally mandated to enforce the earlier rulings. They are also seeking orders:
- Stopping the defendants from recognising or acting on the outcome of the Ibadan convention,
- Restraining the newly elected officers from parading themselves as PDP leaders,
- Compelling security agencies to protect the plaintiffs and restore their access to the party’s Abuja offices,
- Preventing INEC from accepting any new address for the PDP aside from Wadata Plaza and Legacy House, and
- Determining whether any authority can validly acknowledge the Ibadan convention in view of existing court decisions, the PDP constitution, and the Electoral Act.
The matter has not yet been assigned to a judge, and no hearing date has been scheduled.
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