The leadership crisis rocking the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) took a fresh turn on Friday as the party, alongside its National Working Committee (NWC) and National Executive Committee (NEC), approached the Supreme Court seeking to halt moves toward a fresh national convention scheduled for March 29 and 30 in Abuja.
In a motion filed before the apex court, the PDP and its key organs asked for a stay of execution of the March 9, 2026 judgment of the Court of Appeal, Abuja Division, which affirmed an earlier Federal High Court ruling nullifying the party’s 2025 national convention held in Ibadan, Oyo State.
The application, brought in Appeal No. SC/CV/166/2026, is seeking an order restraining the respondents and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) from giving effect to the appellate court judgment pending the hearing and determination of the substantive appeal.
The party also urged the Supreme Court to stop all steps toward the planned Abuja convention, warning that if the exercise is allowed to proceed, it could render the pending appeal nugatory and create a fait accompli.
Among those listed as respondents in the suit are Austin Nwachukwu, Amah Abraham Nnanna, Turnah Alabh George, Senator Samuel Anyanwu, Umar Damagum, Ali Odefa, Emmanuel Ogidi, and INEC.
The fresh legal move follows the March 9 judgment of the Court of Appeal which upheld the decision of the Federal High Court barring INEC from recognising the outcome of the PDP’s November 15 and 16, 2025 national convention in Ibadan. The convention had produced a factional leadership with Taminu Turaki, SAN, emerging as National Chairman. The appellate court held that the party failed to meet statutory requirements before conducting the convention, including valid notice to INEC and compliance with constitutional procedures.
Following the appellate court ruling, the faction opposed to the Ibadan convention insisted that the planned March 29 and 30 national convention in Abuja would proceed as scheduled. A spokesperson of the group, Haruna Mohammed, had said the party had already conducted ward and local government congresses in compliance with the lower court judgment and would continue with arrangements for the convention.
However, the PDP applicants, in the motion now before the Supreme Court, argued that both the trial court and the Court of Appeal lacked jurisdiction to entertain the matter, insisting that the apex court must preserve the subject matter of the dispute pending the determination of the appeal.
The party is specifically asking the Supreme Court for an order staying execution of the appellate judgment, or in the alternative, an injunction restraining INEC from recognising or acting on the judgment as it affects the Ibadan convention. It is also seeking an order stopping the respondents from organising, conducting, recognising or participating in any fresh PDP national convention until the appeal is heard and determined.
The latest development is expected to deepen the battle for control of the PDP’s national structure, with the outcome of the Supreme Court proceedings likely to shape the future of the opposition party ahead of the 2027 general elections.
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