Court Adjourns PDP Faction’s Suit Over Ibadan Convention to January 2026
The Federal High Court in Abuja, on Friday, December 6, 2025, adjourned proceedings in the suit challenging the outcome of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) national convention held in Ibadan to January 14, 2026.
The suit, marked FHC/ABJ/CS/2501/2025, was filed by a faction of the party aligned with the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, seeking to nullify the outcome of the Ibadan convention.
Justice Joyce Abdulmalik, who presided over the matter, adjourned the case after a motion seeking her recusal could not be heard due to failure to serve all parties. The application was filed by the camp aligned with Kabiru Turaki, citing alleged bias and requesting that the case be reassigned to another judge.
The plaintiffs in the suit are the acting national chairman and national secretary of the Wike faction, Mohammed Abdulrahman and Senator Samuel Anyanwu, respectively. They are asking the court to invalidate the convention and restrain those elected from acting as national officers of the party.
The defendants include the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), the Inspector-General of Police, the Commissioner of Police, Federal Capital Territory Command, the State Security Service (SSS) and individuals who emerged as officers from the Ibadan convention.
The Turaki camp, represented by a team of seven Senior Advocates of Nigeria (SANs) led by Chief Chris Uche, argued that there was a reasonable apprehension of bias against Justice Abdulmalik. They pointed to earlier administrative objections and letters addressed to the Chief Judge requesting that PDP internal disputes not be assigned to certain judges. The legal team also raised concerns over an earlier ex parte order issued on November 25, 2025, which they claimed followed the template of a related case.
Meanwhile, the Wike faction is seeking injunctive relief restraining the 5th to 25th defendants from presenting themselves as party officers. They are also asking the court to direct INEC not to recognise any representatives of the PDP other than those aligned with their faction.
In addition, the plaintiffs want the court to affirm that the party’s national headquarters remains at Wadata Plaza, Wuse Zone 5, Abuja, and to order security agencies to provide protection for their members at designated party offices.
In a related development, a counter-suit filed by the PDP leadership aligned with Kabiru Turaki, marked FHC/ABJ/CS/2520/2025, was also adjourned to January 16, 2026. The counter-suit seeks the removal of police personnel from the party’s national headquarters to allow the Turaki camp to take possession of the offices.
The main suit was filed on November 21, 2025. The court’s adjournment now pushes all pending applications, including the recusal motion and requests for interim injunctions, into mid-January 2026.