..Turaki maintained that the PDP remains legally stable and unaffected by the ruling,
ABUJA, NIGERIA- The iNews Times | The National Working Committee (NWC) of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), led by Tanimu Turaki, has filed an appeal against the Federal High Court judgment that nullified the party’s November 2025 national convention and upheld a caretaker committee supported by the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike.
Speaking to journalists on Friday, Turaki maintained that the PDP remains legally stable and unaffected by the ruling, stressing that the party would abide by the outcome of the appellate courts.
Earlier on Friday, the Federal High Court sitting in Ibadan invalidated the PDP National Convention held in Oyo State on November 15, 2025, and ordered Turaki and other officials to cease presenting themselves as national officers of the party.
Justice Uche Agomoh ruled that the caretaker committee led by Mohammed Abdulrahman and Samuel Anyanwu is the only recognised National Working Committee of the PDP until a properly constituted national convention is conducted.
The Ibadan convention, which produced Turaki and other NWC members for a four-year term, had the backing of PDP governors.
However, Wike, along with Abdulrahman and Anyanwu, has continued to assert that they remain in office as acting national chairman and national secretary, respectively.
Although the governors supervised a seamless transition from the former PDP National Chairman, Umar Damagum, to Turaki ahead of Damagum’s tenure expiration on December 9, the Wike-aligned faction proceeded on December 8 to establish a 13-member caretaker committee with a 60-day mandate, naming Abdulrahman, Anyanwu, and others.
This development led both factions to seek recognition from the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), which has so far declined to acknowledge either leadership group.
As a result, multiple lawsuits have been filed to resolve the leadership crisis ahead of the 2027 general election.
Reacting to the ruling, Turaki dismissed it as merely academic and urged the Court of Appeal to consolidate all pending PDP-related cases to deliver a single, binding judgment.
He disclosed that the NWC had filed a Notice of Appeal and a Motion for Stay of Execution, affirming their resolve to pursue the case to its legal conclusion.
Turaki explained that the party had approached the court seeking an order of mandamus compelling INEC to recognise the Ibadan convention and facilitate official communication between the commission and the party.
According to him, the judgment conflicts with existing court orders and previous rulings by courts of equal jurisdiction.
“Consequently, we have filed a Notice of Appeal as well as a Motion for Stay of Execution of the judgment, and we are determined to pursue this matter diligently and to its logical conclusion in accordance with the law,” Turaki said.
