Ibadan: A Federal High Court in Ibadan on Friday nullified the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) National Convention held in the city between November 15 and 16, 2025.
Justice Uche Agomoh further ruled that Mohammed Abdulrahman and Sen. Samuel Anyanwu remain the only recognised leaders of the party’s National Working Committee (NWC) until a valid convention is conducted.
The Kabiru Turaki faction of the PDP had filed suit No. FHC/IB/CS/121/2025, seeking recognition of the convention and validation of its resulting NWC.
Agomoh barred Turaki and other officials who claimed election at the convention from presenting themselves as national officers of the party henceforth.
The court held that the convention was held in flagrant disregard of two subsisting judgments of the same court.
It said that returning to seek judicial approval for actions taken in defiance of court orders was futile.
Consequently, the court set aside all decisions taken at the convention.
The judge further ruled that the PDP could operate only through the caretaker committee until a proper and lawful national convention was held.
PDP Caretaker Committee counsel, Chief Ferdinand Oshioke Orbih, called the ruling a boost for Nigeria’s democracy.
Orbih, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), stated that the claimants sought judicial endorsement of what he called an illegal convention, but the court firmly rejected their move.
He said the judgment affirmed that the rule of law must prevail over political expediency, stressing that all actions and structures arising from the convention had been nullified in their entirety.
The judgment comes after a prolonged internal conflict within the PDP over the contentious November 2025 national convention in Ibadan, held in defiance of court orders.
Previously, Justice Peter Life of a Federal High Court in Abuja had suspended the PDP convention after a suit filed by former Jigawa State Governor Sule Lamido.
Lamido challenged the process, alleging that party officials denied him the opportunity to purchase a nomination form to contest for the party’s chairmanship, violating the PDP constitution and guidelines.
