THERE appears to be no end in sight to the crises rocking the Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP) as the party joins its contemporaries to prepare for the 2027 elections.
The conflicts took another turn on Thursday, April 30, shortly after the Supreme Court nullified the Ibadan Convention of a faction of the party, backed by Oyo State Governor Seyi Makinde and other stalwarts, in November 2025.
The convention produced the Kabiru Turaki-led National Working Committee of the faction.
In its ruling, the court lampooned the faction and voided the convention over what it described as deliberate disobedience of subsisting court orders.
Consequently, the Turaki-led group’s Board of Trustees announced its readiness to assume the party’s leadership.
However, the rival faction belonging to the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike said the apex court’s ruling simply affirmed its control of the PDP.
The Turaki-led BoT, through a statement by its charman, Adolphus Wabara, a former senator, said it would assume the PDP’s leadership to avoid a vacuum, and “pursuant to the empowering provisions of the constitution of the PDP (As amended in 2017)”
It posited that the Supreme Court verdict nullified both the Ibadan Convention and the Wike-backed convention in Abuja.
“While the Supreme Court invalidated the Ibadan Convention, it also in a unanimous decision of the five justices on the panel, upheld the suspension of Senator Samuel Anyanwu, Hon. Umar Bature, Kamaldeen Ajibade as National Secretary, National Organising Secretary and National Legal Adviser respectively from the party.
“The implication of today’s judgment by the Supreme Court is that all actions taken by Senator Samuel Anyanwu, Hon. Umar Bature and Barr. Kamaldeen Ajibade including the appointment of Abdulrahman Mohammed as Acting National Chairman, the composition of the National Caretaker Working Committee and the conduct and outcome of the March 29, 2026 Convention in Abuja are illegal, null and ab initio void.
“The consequential invalidation of both the Abdulrahman Mohammed-led as well as the Kabiru Tanimu Turaki-led Working Committees directly places the statutory onus of leadership of our great party on the shoulders of the Board of Trustees (BoT) as the Second Highest Organ of the Party, pursuant to the express and unambiguous provision of Section 32 (5) of the PDP Constitution (as amended in 2017),” the Turaki faction’s BoT said.
The BoT noted that it was convening an emergency meeting to appoint an Interim National Working Committee to take charge of the National Secretariat of the PDP and pilot its affairs.
Late Thursday night, the Turaki-led faction held an emergency stakeholders’ meeting, which further ratified the decision for its BoT to step in and lead the party pending the appointment of a caretaker committee.
Some of the faction’s organs at the meeting are its BoT members, Governors’ Forum, members of the National Assembly Caucus, the National Executive Committee (NEC), the National Caucus, State Chairmen, and Ex-Officio members.
Meanwhile, shortly after the Supreme Court verdict, Wike addressed a press
conference where he claimed that the ruling had resolved all disputes surrounding the party’s leadership structure.
“Today, the Supreme Court has brought to an end the so-called factions of the PDP. There is no more faction in the party. There is only one PDP. The Supreme Court has validated our (Abuja) Convention and set aside all claims to any parallel structure. What this means is that the PDP has come to stay as one united party,” he said.
Wike added that the PDP remained Nigeria’s leading opposition party and a “credible alternative” to the All-Progressives Congress (APC) – the party he is currently serving in.
The ICIR reports that Abdulrahman Mohammed emerged as National Chairman, and Samuel Anyanwu as National Secretary of the Wike-backed PDP.
Whereas, nother statement signed by Wike’s faction BoT members on Thursday evening affirmed Mohammed and Anyanwu as the party’s leader following the apex court verdict.
The statement, signed by its chairman, Mao Ohuabunwa, a former senator, averred that the Ibadan Convention was annulled as ruled by the court.
According to him, the verdict also validated the convention held in Abuja by Wike’s block.
“The leadership structure of the party under Alhaji Abdulrahman Mohammed – National Chairman, Senator Samuel Nnaemeka Anyanwu, FCIPA – National Secretary remains the valid and stabilising authority to guide the affairs of the party at the national level.
“The party remains fully functional and will continue to operate through its recognised organs in line with the constitution of our party (as amended in 2017) Necessary constitutional steps will be taken, as appropriate, to further strengthen the party’s unity, stability, and preparedness for upcoming electoral engagements,” part of the statement said.
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Nanji is an investigative journalist with the ICIR. She has years of experience in reporting and broadcasting human angle stories, gender inequalities, minority stories, and human rights issues. She has documented sexual war crimes in armed conflict, sex for grades in Nigerian Universities, harmful traditional practices and human trafficking.
