Nigeria’s Supreme Court has concluded hearing in the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) leadership dispute and reserved judgment in the appeal challenging the nullification of its 2025 national convention.
A five-member panel of justices led by Justice Lawal Garba announced on Wednesday that a date for judgment would be communicated to all parties after lawyers adopted their final written addresses.
The appeal was filed by the Kabiru Tanimu Turaki-led faction of the PDP, seeking to overturn the Court of Appeal’s March 9 decision which upheld earlier rulings that invalidated the party’s national convention held in Ibadan on November 15 and 16, 2025.
At the Supreme Court, the Turaki faction argued that the matter relates to internal party affairs and should not be subjected to judicial intervention, insisting that due process was followed in organising the convention.
However, lower courts had consistently ruled against the faction, nullifying the exercise and restraining the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) from recognising its outcome. Some rulings also affected access to the party’s national secretariat.
The Court of Appeal had affirmed two separate judgments of the Federal High Court in Abuja, which halted the convention over alleged breaches of the Electoral Act and the 2022 Regulations and Guidelines for Political Parties.
In one ruling, Justice James Omotosho held that the PDP failed to conduct valid state congresses required as a foundation for a lawful national convention under both the law and the party’s constitution.
In another decision, Justice Peter Lifu barred the party from proceeding with the convention until it allowed former Jigawa State Governor, Sule Lamido, to participate in the national chairmanship contest, after finding he was improperly excluded.
The cases were filed by aggrieved party members, including executives from Imo, Abia, and the South-South region, triggering a prolonged internal crisis that has now reached its final stage at the apex court.
