Nigeria Supreme Court Invalidates PDP Ibadan Convention

Nigeria's Supreme Court on Thursday invalidated a national convention held by a faction of the Peoples Democratic Party in Ibadan, Oyo State, on November 15 and 16, ruling that the event defied a Federal High Court order and constituted an abuse of court processes.

In a 3-2 split decision by a five-member panel, the apex court dismissed an appeal filed by the faction led by former Minister of Special Duties Tanimu Turaki. Justice Stephen Adah, delivering the lead majority judgment in appeal number SC/CV/164/2026, stated that the appellants violated a subsisting restraining order issued by Justice James Omotosho of the Federal High Court, which barred the planned convention. "The appellants violated a subsisting order of the Federal High Court restraining them from proceeding with the planned convention," Adah said.

The court affirmed a March 9 judgment from the Court of Appeal in Abuja, which had upheld the Federal High Court's decision nullifying the Ibadan convention and barring the Independent National Electoral Commission from recognizing its outcomes. The disputed gathering had produced Turaki as a rival national chairperson and other executives for the faction's National...