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Supreme Court Nullifies PDP Convention

by admin on | 2026-05-01 17:00:46

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Supreme Court Nullifies PDP Convention

By Mohammad Imam, Abuja

The Supreme Court of Nigeria has nullified the national convention of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) held in Ibadan, Oyo State, on November 15 and 16, 2025.

In a split decision, three out of five justices upheld the earlier ruling of the Court of Appeal, affirming that the PDP convention was invalid.

Delivering the lead judgment, Justice Stephen Adah stressed that court orders must be obeyed unless set aside.

He held that the PDP’s failure to comply with a Federal High Court directive ordering the party to halt its planned convention and make nomination forms available to a national chairmanship aspirant, Sule Lamido, was fatal to its case.

Justice Adah also criticised the party for abusing court processes by filing a fresh suit in another court of coordinate jurisdiction instead of appealing the initial order.

The majority consequently dismissed the appeal and voided the November convention that produced the Tanimu Turaki-led leadership of the party.

However, in dissenting opinions, Justice Sadiq Umar and Justice Haruna Tsammani argued that the courts lacked jurisdiction over the matter, describing it as an internal party affair.

Justice Tsammani, while agreeing that the PDP acted wrongly by disobeying the trial court, maintained that this was not sufficient ground to dismiss the appeal. He stated that the case should not have been entertained in the first place.

“Since the trial court lacks jurisdiction to entertain the matter, the suit is accordingly struck out,” Tsammani ruled, allowing the appeal and insisting that the Federal High Court had no authority to hear the case.