Nyesom Wike, Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, has challenged an Oyo State High Court verdict on Tuesday that approved the Peoples Democratic Party’s proposed national convention in Ibadan on Saturday and Sunday, November 15 and 16, 2025.
Justice Ladiran Akintola granted Folahan Adelabi’s ex parte motion filed on Monday in suit number I/1336/2025, and the matter was adjourned to November 10, 2025, for a hearing on notice.
The Oyo injunction contradicts last Friday’s Federal High Court decision in Abuja, which barred the PDP from conducting the convention.
In action number FHC/ABJ/CS/2120/2025, Justice James Omotosho ruled that the convention be suspended until the party complied with its constitution, the Nigerian Constitution, and the Electoral Act.
Three disgruntled party members brought the suit: Austin Nwachukwu (Imo PDP chairman), Amah Abraham Nnanna (Abia PDP chairman), and Turnah Alabh George (PDP Secretary, South-South).
The court instructed the People’s Democratic Party “to go back and put its house in order and to give the statutory 21-day notice to INEC before it can proceed with the proposed convention.”
He also prohibited INEC from accepting or recognizing the results of any national convention that was not held in line with due process, the law, and INEC’s own regulations.
In the Oyo case, the defendants are the PDP, its National Chairman, Umar Damagum (for himself, the National Working Committee, and the National Executive Committee); Adamawa State Governor, Ahmadu Fintiri (for himself and the National Convention Organizing Committee); and the Independent National Electoral Commission.
Justice Akintola approved all interim orders requested by the claimant, prohibiting “the defendants or their agents from truncating or frustrating the conduct of the party’s scheduled national convention.”
The judge also directed the PDP leadership to strictly adhere to the guidelines, timetable, and schedule of activities previously released for the convention and ordered the party and its committees to hold, conduct, and convene the elective national convention in Ibadan as planned, pending the resolution of the motion on notice.
He also instructed INEC to attend, oversee, and observe the convention in accordance with the Electoral Act.
According to the verdict, the claimant had shown a foundation for immediate court intervention, and the judge praised the claimant’s “transparency” in bringing a petition on notice for interlocutory injunction alongside the ex parte application.
S. O. Hammed, Principal Registrar of the Oyo State High Court, signed the certified authentic copy of the enrollment order, which was issued in Ibadan on November 3, 2025.
In response to the development, Wike, through his Senior Special Assistant, Lere Olayinka, dismissed the Oyo order, claiming that the Abuja verdict took precedence.
“Are you unaware of the last Friday judgment of the Federal High Court? There was a judgment on Friday. Another court now gave an ex parte order! Do you know what an ex parte order means?
“It means it expires in seven days or at the highest 14 days. Is the High Court in Ibadan the appeal court? Is that an order you should obey? Is an order higher than a judgment?
“A court gave a judgment that INEC should not attend. You now went to Ibadan to get an order, an ex parte order. And you are asking whether the minister will attend?” the Wike aide said.
![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")
