Former Senate President Bukola Saraki has urged the Peoples Democratic Party officials and stakeholders to cease protracted legal battles over the party’s disputed national convention and instead focus on organizing a new one that follows electoral norms.
Saraki submitted the appeal on Tuesday in a Facebook statement signed by Yusuph Olaniyonu, Head of the Bukola Saraki Media Office, in response to the Court of Appeal’s decision upholding previous findings invalidating the PDP national convention held in Ibadan, Oyo State, in November 2025.
The former governor of Kwara State stated that the party must accept the ruling and move immediately to conduct a new national convention in accordance with the Independent National Electoral Commission’s timetable.
“My own position is that the Court of Appeal has ruled. However, with the revised timetable by INEC, it is obvious that there is no time to wait for the Supreme Court decision,” Saraki said.
Saraki warned that continued litigation could jeopardize the chances of party members seeking to contest elections on the PDP platform in the 2027 general elections.
“If our motive is to see that we do not jeopardize the chances of our numerous members who want to contest elections on our platform, then this consideration should be the priority of all of us in the party,” he added.
He stated that political parties exist to provide platforms for candidates seeking elective offices and should not allow internal disputes to undermine that purpose.
“One of the key essentials of a political party is to provide a platform for candidates seeking to serve the people by contesting elections. We should not defeat this purpose,” he said.
He also urged dissatisfied party leaders to put their own interests aside and focus on the PDP’s common future.
“At this stage, egos have been bruised. However, leaders should rise above personal interests and serve the larger common good,” he said.
Saraki emphasized the importance of negotiation and compromise among party stakeholders in organizing an all-inclusive national convention that would result in generally approved leadership.
“The only viable option open to all of us is to sit down, discuss, and work towards holding an all-inclusive national convention at a time that will comply with INEC guidelines,” he said.
Chronicle NG reports that the Court of Appeal in Abuja upheld the decisions of the Federal High Court invalidating the PDP national convention held in Ibadan between November 15 and 16, 2023.
In its ruling, the appeal court barred INEC from recognizing the outcome of the convention, including the emergence of Taminu Turaki as the party’s national chairman.
Aside from electing a new National Working Committee, the convention had also suspended some allies of the minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, over alleged anti-party activities.
Those suspended included the National Secretary, Samuel Anyanwu; the National Legal Adviser, Kamaldeen Ajibade; the Deputy National Legal Adviser, Okechukwu Osuoha; and the National Organizing Secretary, Umaru Bature.
The disagreement arose from various legal cases filed by dissatisfied party members, who claimed that the convention breached articles of the 1999 Constitution, the Electoral Act, and the PDP Constitution.
Justice Uchechukwu Onyemenam, who delivered the main judgment, ruled that the party failed to comply with constitutional criteria prior to holding the convention.
The court noted that no legitimate notice of the convention was served on INEC, as required by law, and that no lawful congresses were convened in more than 14 states prior to the convention.
The panel also dismissed Turaki’s and other National Working Committee members’ appeals, ruling that the Federal High Court had jurisdiction over the case.
The court also awarded N2 million in costs to the appellants.
The verdict was the first appellate ruling on the contentious convention, following months of conflicting findings from Abuja and Ibadan courts.
