Court halts PDP’s national convention amid escalating leadership crisis
The Federal High Court in Abuja has once again stopped the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) from proceeding with its planned national convention scheduled for November 15 and 16 in Ibadan, Oyo State.
In a ruling delivered on Tuesday, Justice Peter Lifu issued a fresh restraining order against the opposition party and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), barring the electoral body from supervising, monitoring, or recognising the outcome of the convention.
The ruling followed a suit filed by former Jigawa State Governor, Sule Lamido, who accused the PDP leadership of denying him the right to contest for the party’s national chairmanship by refusing to sell him a nomination form.
Justice Lifu held that the restraining order became necessary because the party “refused, neglected, and failed to comply with relevant conditions and laws” governing the conduct of such conventions.
According to the judge, the PDP failed to publish its convention timetable as required by law. He stressed that due process must be observed in all constitutional matters, warning that any deviation from the rule of law could “endanger democracy itself.”
Citing Section 6 of the 1999 Constitution, Justice Lifu noted that the judiciary must not shy away from its duty to uphold justice “without fear or favour.”
In his final order, the judge restrained the PDP from holding the Ibadan convention—or any other similar gathering elsewhere—and prohibited INEC from recognising or monitoring any convention organised by the party under the current circumstances.
The latest decision contradicts a previous ruling by the High Court sitting in Oyo State, which last week ordered the PDP and its acting National Chairman, Umar Damagum, to proceed with the same convention scheduled for November 15 in Ibadan.
Justice A. L. Akintola, the presiding judge in Oyo, had issued the directive after hearing an ex parte application filed by Folahan Malomo Adelabi.
The conflicting rulings have thrown the party into further confusion as it struggles with deep internal divisions ahead of the 2027 general elections.
