Nigeria’s Supreme Court has voided the national convention of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) held in Ibadan, Oyo State, on November 15 and 16, 2025, deepening the party’s lingering leadership crisis.
In a closely divided 3–2 ruling delivered on Thursday, the apex court upheld earlier decisions that invalidated the convention which produced the Tanimu Turaki-led leadership faction.
Justice Stephen Adah, who read the lead judgment, held that the exercise was conducted in clear violation of a subsisting order of the Federal High Court. The lower court had directed the party to suspend the planned convention pending the resolution of a dispute over nomination forms.
The majority of the justices ruled that parties who disobey valid court orders cannot seek relief from the same judicial system, describing the defiance as fatal to the appellants’ case. Consequently, the appeal filed by the Turaki-led faction was dismissed, and the convention formally set aside.
However, the judgment was not unanimous. In a dissenting opinion, Justice Haruna Tsammani argued that the matter was an internal affair of the PDP and should not have been entertained by the courts in the first place. He maintained that the Federal High Court lacked jurisdiction and that the case ought to have been struck out entirely.
The ruling is expected to have far-reaching implications for the PDP’s leadership structure and its preparations ahead of future elections, as the party continues to grapple with factional disputes.