The Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, has expressed shock over yesterday’s court order prohibiting the party from going ahead with its national convention set to meet in Ibadan, Oyo State, on November 15 and 16.
The party called the court judgment an assault on Nigeria’s democratic process and vowed to challenge it.
The party, in a statement issued on Friday by its National Publicity Secretary, Debo Ologunagba, charged its members to go ahead with the preparations towards holding the convention.
The statement, titled “PDP Planned National Convention Not Vitiated by Court,” read, “The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) is appalled by the judgement of the Federal High Court Abuja, presided over by Honorable Justice Kolawole Omotosho today (yesterday), describing it as an assault on Nigeria’s democratic process.”
However, the PDP claims that the court’s decision does not jeopardize its capacity to proceed with the processes and activities leading up to the National Convention to elect new National Officers to lead the party’s business for the next four years.
“Our party notes the recent judgement of the Supreme Court, which affirms the supremacy of a political party in the management of its internal affairs.
“The PDP therefore charges its members, chapters, and organs to remain steadfast and focused on preparations towards the holding of the National Convention of our party.
“Nevertheless, the PDP, as the leading opposition party in Nigeria committed to the rule of law, has accordingly directed its lawyers to take immediate action to appeal this judgment in our unwavering determination to uphold, defend, and promote multi-party democracy in our country.”
Ambassador Umar Iliya Damagum, the party’s national chairman, claimed in an interview on national television that the court judgment was the result of sabotage.
In a similar reaction, former Deputy National Chairman of the party, Chief Olabode George, condemned Justice James Omotosho’s decision of a Federal High Court in Abuja on Friday as “the joke of the century, an open invitation to anarchy, and a display of judicial brigandage.”
The Federal High Court ruled that the party failed to meet the legislative criteria precedents that would allow it to organize the convention.
According to the court, the evidence presented showed that the party failed to follow pertinent articles of the 1999 Constitution, as amended, INEC recommendations, and its own regulations.
While upholding the petition brought before it by three disgruntled party members, Justice Omotosho criticized the PDP for failing to have proper state congresses prior to scheduling a convention to pick its national officers.
The plaintiffs, Hon. Austin Nwachukwu (Imo PDP Chairman), Hon. Amah Abraham Nnanna (Abia PDP Chairman), and Turnah Alabh George (PDP Secretary, South-South), had marked the suit as follows:
FHC/ABJ/CS/2120/2025 claimed that proper congresses were not held in 14 states of the union before the convention was set.
INEC, the PDP, its National Chairman, Ambassador Umar Iliya Damagum, the National Secretary, Senator Samuel Anyanwu, the National Organizing Secretary, Umar Bature, two national officers of the party, Ali Odefa and Emmanuel Ogidi, and the party’s NWC and NEC were named as defendants in the case.
The court ruled that the convention could not take place since state congresses to elect national officers had not been held. It was also revealed that notices for the national convention were only signed by the party’s National Chairman, not the National Secretary.
Justice Omotosho held that such notices and correspondences were null and void in the eyes of the law and that the PDP’s inability to follow the established processes jeopardized the scheduled convention.
As a result, he urged the party to return and clean up its act, as well as to submit to INEC the required 21-day notice of meetings and congresses so that it could supervise the proceedings.
The plaintiffs asserted that the 1999 Constitution, as amended, required INEC to oversee every political party’s congress before it could be considered legitimately conducted.
They informed the court that no legitimate notice was served on INEC for the purpose of the upcoming convention.
While agreeing with them, the court dismissed preliminary arguments brought by the defendants challenging its jurisdiction to intervene in what they claimed was a political party’s internal affairs.
The court therefore ordered INEC not to receive, publish, or recognize the outcome of the Ibadan convention unless the PDP complied with the relevant laws and rules.
It ruled that the electoral body was not required to give effect to the outcome of a political party convention convened outside of strict respect to the 1999 Constitution, as amended, the Electoral Act 2022, and its own rules.
The court emphasized that the party was not permitted to hold a national convention until it provided a proper framework for the election of delegates who would participate in the event.
