The battle over the legality of the November 15 and 16, 2025 National Convention of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) will commence at the Court of Appeal, Abuja, on February 12, 2026.
A three-member panel of the appellate court, led by Justice Mohammed Danjuma, on Tuesday fixed the date for hearing in eight appeals challenging the Ibadan convention that produced the Tanimu Turaki-led National Executive Committee of the party.
At Tuesday’s proceedings, the appellate court entertained eight separate appeals arising from three different judgments delivered on the controversial convention held in Ibadan, Oyo State.
The appeals were filed by the pro-Seyi Makinde group seeking to wrest control of the party from loyalists of the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike.
The convention had deepened the crisis within the opposition party, polarising it into factions and triggering conflicting court orders.
Two judges of the Federal High Court in Abuja had earlier restrained the PDP from proceeding with the convention, while an Oyo State High Court granted the party approval to conduct it and directed the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to monitor and recognise its outcome.
Justice Olaniran Akintola of the Oyo State High Court, in an ex-parte ruling in a suit filed by Mr Folahan Malomo Adelabi, ordered INEC to attend and monitor the convention.
His order came barely 72 hours after Justice James Omotosho of the Federal High Court in Abuja issued a contrary directive restraining INEC from participating in or recognising the outcome of the convention.
Justice Akintola specifically restrained the defendants from taking any action that would “truncate or frustrate the Guidelines, Timetable and Schedule of Activity and/or disrupt, prevent or stop the conduct of the Scheduled National Convention” pending the hearing of the substantive motion.
However, Justice Omotosho, in a judgment on a suit filed by aggrieved PDP members including Hon Austin Nwachukwu (Imo PDP chairman), Hon Amah Abraham Nnanna (Abia PDP chairman), and Turnah Alabh George (PDP Secretary, South-South), held that INEC should not recognise any convention conducted in breach of the law.
“INEC should not accept the results of any convention in breach of the law,” Omotosho ruled.
He further restrained INEC from uploading on its website any action taken in violation of the Electoral Act or other relevant laws.
In his judgment, Omotosho rejected the argument that the matter was purely an internal affair of the party.
While acknowledging that internal party matters are generally outside judicial interference, he held that the case bordered on INEC’s statutory duty.
“A suit challenging the executive decision of INEC is not an internal affair of a political party,” he said, adding that INEC is empowered to monitor and regulate party congresses and conventions.
He ruled that the PDP failed to comply with relevant legal provisions in the lead-up to the Ibadan convention and that INEC had the authority to invalidate conventions conducted in breach of the law.
In a related development, Justice Peter Lifu restrained the PDP from proceeding with the convention on the ground that former Jigawa State Governor, Sule Lamido, was allegedly excluded from contesting the party’s national chairmanship position.
The multiplicity of judgments further complicated the PDP’s internal crisis and set the stage for the appellate showdown.
The Court of Appeal on Tuesday agreed to examine the merits of the claims and counterclaims in all eight appeals and deliver a definitive ruling at the February 12 hearing.