…Abuja Federal Court takes on Oyo State High Court as factions vie for control
…Stop Ibadan convention before it tears party apart – Saraki tells party BoT
…No, it must hold, Wabara insists
BY TONY EZIMAKOR AND BEN OGBEMUDIA
The fate of the main opposition People’s Democratic Party (PDP) ahead of their planned National Convention on Saturday, November 15 and 16, now hangs in the balance as courts of coordinate jurisdiction in Abuja and Ibadan go on trial.
While leaders of the party are busy finalising arrangements for the convention, aggrieved members and others motivated by outside interests are not sleeping, as they plot how to torpedo the entire process.
Justice Peter Lifu of the Federal High Court in Abuja had, penultimate week, while ruling on an application filed by former governor of Jigawa State, Alhaji Sule Lamido, granted an interim order halting the convention.
Lamido’s grouse is noteworthy. He had nursed ambition to run for Chairman and lead the once-largest political party on the continent. Reportedly, he took the action after he was denied the opportunity to obtain the party’s form for the position. The party’s inner circle, led by some governors elected under the umbrella, had allegedly anointed a candidate and decided to print only one form for the position of chairman. Enraged by the obvious treachery, Lamido sought solace in the courts.
Lamido, in an ex parte motion filed against the PDP, sought an interim injunction restraining the party from holding the convention pending the determination of the substantive suit.
He alleged that he was denied the opportunity to purchase the chairmanship nomination form, preventing him from participating in the exercise.
Delivering a ruling on Tuesday, Justice Lifu issued an interim order restraining the PDP from holding its 2025 National Convention.
He held that the plaintiff’s application had merit and consequently barred the party from proceeding with the event until the substantive matter is determined.
The judge also prohibited the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) from monitoring or recognising the convention while the case remains unresolved.
Justice Lifu observed that Lamido, as a bona fide PDP member with an interest in contesting the national chairmanship, would suffer greater harm if the injunction was not granted.
He noted that he saw no reason to depart from an earlier ruling delivered by Justice Omotosho on October 31, which similarly halted the PDP convention and restrained INEC from participating.
The judge held that the restriction order against the PDP was based on the party’s failure to comply with statutory conditions governing the conduct of such conventions.
Evidence tendered by Lamido showed that the timetable for the convention was not published for the attention of members, as required by law.
Justice Lifu further ruled that the balance of convenience favoured Lamido, as he would suffer more harm if unlawfully excluded from the convention.
He noted that the former governor had undertaken to pay damages to the PDP should the court find his suit frivolous.
According to the judge, in a constitutional democracy, due process must be strictly followed by those in authority, adding that failure to do so endangers the democratic system.
He emphasised that under Section 6 of the 1999 Constitution, courts must never abdicate their responsibility of dispensing justice without fear or favour and warned that anarchy would prevail if any court of record failed to perform its constitutional duties.
In his final pronouncement, Justice Lifu restrained the PDP from proceeding with the convention slated for November 15 and 16 or any other date in Ibadan or elsewhere, and barred INEC from supervising, monitoring, or recognising the outcome of any convention conducted by the party.
Earlier, in a matter brought against the leadership of the party by some state chairmen of the PDP led by Austin Nwachukwu of Imo State PDP and two others, a suit filed before Justice James Omotosho of the Federal High Court, Abuja, challenged the propriety of the convention holding without due regard for laid-down processes of the party.
Among other decisions, Justice Omotosho stopped the convention from holding while barring INEC from accepting the outcome of the convention, which is scheduled to produce new leadership of the party.
But while PDP opted to appeal the ruling by Justice Omotosho, it maintained that nothing in the judgement stops the convention from going ahead as planned.
Complicating the scenario, which has again raised concern over the role of the judiciary vis-à-vis the activities of desperados in the nation’s political space, a State High Court in Ibadan, Oyo State, jumped into the fray.
Ruling on an application brought by a member of Oyo PDP, Folahan Adelabi, Justice Ladiran Akintola of Court 5, Oyo State High Court, sitting in Ibadan, directed INEC to attend and monitor the exercise for the election of new national officers.
The claimant/applicant sought the order of the court restraining the defendants—Acting National Chairman Umar Iliya Damagum, the Governor of Adamawa State Rt. Hon. Ahmadu Umaru Fintiri (for himself and members of the National Convention Organising Committee), and INEC or their agents—from truncating or frustrating the conduct of the party’s scheduled national convention.
The court also directed the PDP leadership to adhere strictly to the guidelines, timetable, and schedule of activities earlier released for the convention.
The interim order granted by the court, which was later extended to Friday (today), forbids any interference with the planned National Convention of the main opposition party in the country.
The judge, in his ruling on Wednesday, ordered that the interim order granted ex parte, via a motion filed by the claimant/applicant, would continue to subsist pending the determination of the pending suit.
He stated that, having listened to the counsel of both parties, the case has been adjourned till Friday this week for hearing, and stressed that the interim order subsists till Friday, which coincides with the arrival day of the convention.
Whatever the outcome of the current battle, it would not be the first time courts of coordinate jurisdiction meddle in politically charged environments, as the instant case shows.
A similar scenario played out in 2024, in Rivers State, when the former governor and now Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, and his political godson, Governor Siminalayi Fubara, squared off in a battle over the control of the oil-rich state.
The integrity of the Nigerian judiciary was similarly brought to the test, as the gladiators also tossed the courts around, allegedly using various judges to procure conflicting judgements that almost turned Rivers State into a shred before President Bola Tinubu intervened with his proclamation of a controversial six-month State of Emergency that restored peace and reasoning in the state.
In the ensuing battle for the soul of Rivers State, analysts believed that while Justice Peter Lifu of the Abuja High Court was delivering judgments favouring the FCT Minister and his camp, the then-embattled Governor Fubara relied on his control of the Rivers State High Court, equally of cognate jurisdiction, to continue ridiculing the judiciary.
In one instance, Justice Lifu of the Abuja Federal High Court barred the Inspector General of Police (IGP), the Department of State Security Service (DSS), and INEC from participating in or providing security for the election.
Justice Lifu ruled that the Rivers State Independent Electoral Commission (RSIEC), then under Governor Sim Fubara’s control, acted improperly in setting the election date without complying with the requisite legal requirements.
The judge noted that the Rivers State electoral body violated local government election conduct laws by failing to publish the mandatory 90-day notice prior to fixing the election date.
He also stated that the updating and revision of the voters’ register by INEC should be completed at least 90 days before an election can be legally scheduled. Consequently, the judge ordered INEC not to provide the certified voters’ register to RSIEC until all legal requirements had been met.
In contrast, another High Court in Rivers State ruled that the local government elections must proceed as planned on October 5.
Justice I.P.C. Igwe delivered this judgment in response to a case filed by the Action Peoples Party (APP) against the RSIEC, the state government, and the governor.
Justice Igwe further ruled that the RSIEC could utilise the National Register of Voters compiled for the 2023 general elections to conduct the local polls.
The court also directed security agencies, including the police and the Civil Defence Corps, to ensure a peaceful election.
Amid the conflicting rulings from the federal and state high courts, the National Working Committee (NWC) and the 2025 National Convention Organizing Committee (NCOC) of the PDP have insisted that it will go ahead with its planned November 15 and 16, 2025, elective convention, which is scheduled to hold at the Adamasingba Stadium in Ibadan.
But in a defiant move, the PDP Convention Organising Committee on Wednesday called on all party members and the general public, stating that the 2025 National Convention of the PDP has not been postponed and will go on as scheduled on Saturday, November 15, to Sunday, November 16, 2025, in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital.
Hon. Debo Ologunagba, National Publicity Secretary (PDP) and Secretary, Publicity and Communication Sub-Committee (NCOC), said in a statement that the NWC and NCOC urge party members and Nigerians in general to disregard misleading claims being peddled to the contrary by some individuals who, it has been revealed, were recruited by the All Progressives Congress (APC) in its failed attempt to stop the PDP National Convention.
“The NCOC and the Party will continue to work assiduously round the clock to ensure a successful National Convention in Ibadan as scheduled. While thanking Nigerians for their overwhelming support for our Party, the NCOC welcomes all delegates, party leaders, officials, and all supporters of the PDP who have already started arriving in Ibadan for the National Convention,” he stated.