Turaki Faction Loses PDP Battle At Supreme Court
Nigeria’s apex court dismisses the Sule Lamido Tanimu Turaki group’s appeal, nullifying the Ibadan convention and cementing the Wike-aligned faction’s grip on the PDP.
ABUJA The Supreme Court of Nigeria has dealt a decisive blow to the Tanimu Turaki-led faction of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), dismissing their appeal and effectively ending their legal bid to validate the party’s controversial national convention held in Ibadan in November 2025.
The ruling, delivered on Thursday, upholds earlier decisions by the Court of Appeal and two Federal High Courts that invalidated the PDP national convention conducted on November 15 and 16, 2025, in Ibadan, Oyo State.
With the apex court’s verdict, the faction aligned with Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, consolidates its dominant position within the ruling party’s internal power struggle.
The Turaki faction had approached the Supreme Court seeking to overturn the appellate court’s ruling, arguing that the convention was an internal party affair and therefore not subject to judicial review.
They contended that all statutory processe were duly followed in organising the convention. The Supreme Court, however, found these arguments unpersuasive, siding with respondents who maintained that the lower courts correctly intervened given clear breaches of statutory and constitutional provisions.
At the heart of the dispute was a landmark ruling by Justice James Omotosho of the Federal High Court in Abuja, who held that the PDP failed to conduct valid state congresses ahead of its national convention a prerequisite under the 1999 Constitution, INEC guidelines, and the party’s own internal rules.
The suit was filed by three aggrieved party members: Austin Nwachukwu (Imo PDP Chairman), Hon. Amah Abraham Nnanna (Abia PDP Chairman), and Turnah Alabh George (South-South PDP Secretary).
The Court of Appeal had earlier upheld the Federal High Court judgments, barring the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) from recognising any resolutions or officials produced at the Ibadan convention.
Thursday’s Supreme Court ruling seals those findings as final and binding, with no further avenue of appeal available to the Turaki Lamido group.
Political analysts say the judgment significantly reshapes the PDP’s internal landscape, giving the Wike-aligned faction uncontested legal standing as it moves to organize fresh congresses and a new national convention in compliance with constitutional requirements.
The ruling is also seen as a warning to political parties against bypassing statutory processes in the conduct of internal elections.
