The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), backed by Seyi Makinde, the Oyo State governor, has appointed Kabiru Turaki as chairman of its interim National Working Committee (NWC).
Turaki was appointed to lead the 13-member interim NWC on Monday at the party’s 103rd National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting in Abuja.
Other members of the committee are Woyengikuro Daniel, Hamza Koshe, Ihediwa Nnabugwu, Isa Abubakar, Okechukwu Daniel, Theophilus Shan, Ini Ememobong, Aribisala Idowu, Bara’u Shafi’i, Ogbu Chinenyenwa, Umar Aji, and Arapaja Taofeek (secretary).
Aziegbemi Anthony, the PDP chairman in Edo State, moved a motion for the appointment of the interim committee.
On Thursday, Adolphus Wabara, chairman of the PDP Board of Trustees (BoT), announced that the BoT had assumed leadership of the party following the Supreme Court’s ruling invalidating the national convention held on November 15 and 16, 2025.
The convention had elected Turaki as the party’s national chairman.
In a split judgment delivered on April 30, three out of five justices of the apex court held that the appeal filed by the Turaki-led faction to validate the convention lacked merit.
Stephen Adah, who read the majority decision, held that the appellants violated a subsisting order of the Federal High Court, which restrained them from proceeding with the planned convention.
The appeal, marked SC/CV/164/2026, stems from a decision by Peter Lifu, a judge of the Federal High Court in Abuja, who issued a temporary order on November 11 restraining the party from proceeding with the planned convention pending the determination of a substantive suit filed by Sule Lamido, former governor of Jigawa State.
On November 14, the court issued a final order restraining the PDP from conducting its national convention.
In his judgment, Lifu held that the evidence before the court established that Lamido was “unjustly denied” the opportunity to obtain a nomination form to contest for the position of national chairman of the party, in violation of the PDP constitution and its internal regulations.
The decision was later upheld by the Court of Appeal on March 9.
Aggrieved, the PDP faction further appealed the appellate court’s decision.
In the majority judgment, Adah held that the appellants went ahead in “flagrant disregard” of the subsisting order of the Federal High Court.
The apex court also held that, instead of abiding by the lower court’s order or appealing it immediately, the PDP abused court process by filing a similar case before another court of coordinate jurisdiction.
The court further noted that the appellants did not challenge the findings of the Court of Appeal, which criticised the party for disobeying a subsisting court order.
Consequently, Adah upheld the appellate court’s verdict and dismissed the appeal.
![Rev. Fr. Anthony Odiong, a US-based Nigerian Louisiana Catholic priest, was arrested in Florida on Tuesday for possessing child pornography, according to law authorities. The suspect is reportedly accused of many other cases of sexual assault. The Waco, Texas, Police Department announced in a Facebook post on Tuesday that officers detained Father Anthony Odiong in Ave Maria, Florida, with assistance from the United States Marshals Service. Waco police announced in March that they had received "credible information" about a sexual assault allegedly committed by Odiong in Texas in 2012. “During the subsequent investigation, a case of possession of child pornography was uncovered,” the police said. The priest was apprehended in Florida by the Caribbean Regional Fugitive Task Force. The Waco Police Department said that he will be extradited to Texas. Odiong had previously served in the Archdiocese of New Orleans before being removed as priest in December of last year due to controversy over homilies in which he claimed, among other things, that the Catholic Church was being taken over by "the gays." At the time, the priest was also accused of abusive behaviour; a Louisiana lady claimed in U.S. bankruptcy court that Odiong had committed both financial and sexual abuse against her. Prior to joining the New Orleans Archdiocese, Odiong served in at least two Texas parishes. On Tuesday, Waco police stated that during their sexual assault investigation, "the presence of other survivors was revealed." “Multiple women have come forward to tell similar experiences as the sexual assault survivor who reported the initial allegation,” the police department said. “Survivors’ experiences ranged from sexual assault and indecent assault, more commonly recognised as groping, and financial abuse, with some survivors experiencing every element of Anthony Odiong’s manipulation.” The police said they “believe there may be more survivors, and we wish to speak with anyone who [has] had similar encounters” with the priest. The Archdiocese of New Orleans issued a brief news release on Tuesday noting Odiong's arrest in Florida. The archdiocese “encourages anyone with any information to contact law enforcement,” the release said.](https://chronicle.ng/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/ezgif-6-4730550ede-450x300.jpg "Odiong: US-based Nigerian Catholic priest convicted over sexual assault")
