The Supreme Court of Nigeria on Wednesday reserved judgment in an appeal filed by a faction of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) led by Kabiru Tanimu Turaki, challenging the nullification of its 2025 national convention.
A five-member panel headed by Justice Lawal Garba said a date for the ruling would be communicated after lawyers adopted their final written submissions.
The Turaki-led group is asking the apex court to set aside the March 9 decision of the Court of Appeal Nigeria, which upheld earlier rulings invalidating the party’s Ibadan convention held on November 15 and 16, 2025.
Before the court, the faction argued that the matter concerns internal party affairs and is therefore not justiciable, maintaining that due process was followed in organising the convention.
However, lower courts had repeatedly ruled against the faction, voiding the exercise, restraining the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) from recognising its outcome, and issuing orders affecting access to the party’s national secretariat.
The appellate court had affirmed two judgments of the Federal High Court of Nigeria, which barred the PDP from proceeding with the convention until it complied with the Electoral Act and the 2022 Regulations and Guidelines for Political Parties.
In one ruling, Justice James Omotosho held that the party failed to conduct valid state congresses as required by law and its constitution, thereby invalidating the planned convention.
Similarly, Justice Peter Lifu restrained the party from going ahead with the convention until former Jigawa State governor, Sule Lamido, was allowed to participate in the national chairmanship race after being unjustly excluded.
The legal battles were initiated by aggrieved party members, including state executives from Imo, Abia, and the South-South zone, deepening the leadership crisis now awaiting final determination by the apex court.
More details are expected…