The Supreme Court will tomorrow, deliver its judgment in the appeal filed by the Kabiru Tanimu Turaki led Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) on the leadership crisis rocking the the party.
Turaki’s appeal marked, marked SC/CV/164/2026 seeks to upturn the judgment of the Court of Appeal and the Federal High Court in Abuja, which nullified the conduct of the party’s national convention, held in Ibadan, Oyo State, on November 15 and 16, 2025.
The appeal, was filed by the Tanimu Turaki, SAN-led factional national executives of the party who emerged from the convention.
A five-member panel of the apex court, headed by Justice Mohammed Lawal Garba, which had on April 14 approved an accelerated hearing of the appeal, reserved the matter for judgment after all parties argued and adopted their respective briefs of argument on April 22, 2026.
The panel held that the judgment date would be communicated to the parties in the matter.
The apex court on Wednesday announced today, Thursday, April 30 to deliver the judgement on the protracted leadership crisis between the Kabiru Tanimu Turaki led faction of the PDP and that of faction loyal to the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike.
While adopting their brief of argument filed on April 2, the appellants, through their team of lawyers led by Paul Erokoro, SAN, urged the Supreme Court not only to allow their appeal but also to dismiss a cross-appeal lodged against them by a faction of the party aligned with the FCT Minister.
Meanwhile, former governor Sule Lamido, who was represented by Mr. J. C. Njikonye, SAN, as well as the Wike-backed faction, represented by Mr. Joseph Daudu, SAN, filed preliminary objections praying the court to dismiss the appeal.
The respondents insisted that, contrary to the contention by the Turaki-led group, the appeal did not fall within the sphere of the PDP’s internal affairs.
They argued that both the Federal High Court and the Court of Appeal had rightly exercised jurisdiction over the matter.
The appellate court had faulted the Turaki led PDP for defying the November 14, 2025, judgment of Justice Peter Lifu of the Federal High Court which stopped the Ibadan convention.
The trial court had barred INEC from supervising, monitoring, or recognizing any convention held without including former Jigawa State Governor Sule Lamido as a contestant.
The restraining order followed a suit filed by Lamido, a foundation member of the PDP, alleging that, he had been arbitrarily denied the chance to contest for national chairmanship position of the party and listed the PDP and INEC as the first and second defendants, respectively.
The trial court found that Lamido had been unjustly denied a nomination form, contrary to the PDP Constitution and guidelines and declared that the party must create opportunities for members to aspire to positions.
As a consequential order, Justice Lifu halted the convention to allow Lamido to obtain the form, mobilize supporters, and campaign.
Dissatisfied with the decision, the Turaki-led PDP filed an appeal to set it aside.
Dismissing the appeal, the appellate court held that the PDP had resorted to self-help and contemptuous conduct by proceeding with the convention despite the restraining order.
It held that the party should have sought suspension of the judgment from a higher court, rather than obtaining a favorable order from another court of coordinate jurisdiction.
In the same vein, Justice James Omotosho of the Federal High Court in Abuja had, in a judgement, stopped the Turaki led PDP from going ahead with its national convention slated for November 15 and 16 in Ibadan.
The trial Judge, Justice James Omotosho held in the judgement that the evidence before the court showed that the party failed to hold valid state congresses before the planned convention as stipulated in the 1999 constitution and INEC guidelines, as well as its own constitution.
Justice Omotosho’s judgement delivered on October 31, 2025 was in a suit marked, FHC/ABJ/CS/2120/2025 filed by three aggrieved members of the party – Austin Nwachukwu (Imo PDP Chairman), Hon Amah Abraham Nnanna (Abia PDP chairman) and Turnah Alabh George (PDP Secretary, South-South).
The appellate court had held in its judgment that, the convention, which produced the Turaki-led factional leadership, lacked legal backing as it disobeyed two Federal High Court judgments in Abuja delivered on October 31 and November 14, 2025.
The Justice Mohammed Danjuma-led panel dismissed the appeal marked CA/ABJ/CV/1613/2025, filed by the PDP faction aligned with Governors Seyi Makinde of Oyo State and Bala Mohammed of Bauchi State.
It found no reason to overturn Justice James Omotosho’s judgement which had barred INEC from validating the Ibadan convention outcome.
The appellate court panel stressed that the trial court had rightly stopped the convention and dismissed the Turaki-led faction’s claim that the matter was a non-justiciable domestic affair of the party.
Justice Uchechukwu Onyemenam, who delivered the lead judgment, held that the lower court had properly assumed jurisdiction, as the suit sought compliance with the Electoral Act, the 1999 Constitution (as amended), and the PDP’s guidelines and regulations for political parties.
END
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