The Federal High Court in Abuja, on Monday, March 30, 2026, once again nullified the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) convention held in Ibadan last November.
Judge Joyce Abdulmalik issued the orders in her judgment, effectively barring the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) from recognizing any leadership or decisions arising from the event.
The ruling, which aligns with a recent Court of Appeal decision, was delivered just hours after the faction loyal to FCT Minister Nyesom Wike concluded its own national convention in Abuja, where Abdulrahman Mohammed was produced as the national chairman.
The judgment arrives as Kabiru Turaki and other officials purportedly elected at the invalidated Ibadan convention are banking on a final resolution from the Supreme Court.
However, Judge Abdulmalik ordered that the Wike-aligned group be granted immediate access to the party’s national secretariat in Abuja, which had been sealed following violent clashes between the factions last year.
The judge further directed the relevant security agencies to provide the group with adequate protection to utilize the facility.
In her ruling, the judge held that the Ibadan convention, held between November 15 and 16, 2025, violated Section 287(3) of the Nigerian Constitution as well as the party’s own constitution and prior court mandates.
She described the expulsion of certain members during that event as an “affront to the subsisting judgement” and a “direct assault to a democratic and principled society” where the rule of law must prevail.
The court maintained that all proceedings and decisions taken at the Ibadan gathering, including the suspension of members, were “unconstitutional, unlawful, null and void, and of no effect.”
The legal battle was initiated by the Wike faction through its officials, Mohammed Abdulrahman and Samuel Anyanwu, to restrain the Turaki-led group from representing the party.
The court held that the defendants, including INEC and the police, are bound to give full effect to existing judgments.
Judge Abdulmalik stated that the defendants “are not entitled to recognise or give effect, in any manner whatsoever, to the purported National Convention held on 15 and 16 November 2025.”
Prior to addressing the merits of the case, Judge Abdulmalik refused an application by the defendants asking her to recuse herself due to alleged bias.
She noted that claims of a “likelihood of bias” are “a state of mind, incapable of precise definition,” and found “no shred of evidence” to support the accusation.
She emphasized that judgment writing is a “style exclusively reserved for the judge” and not for lawyers to dictate.
The judge also dismissed challenges to the court’s jurisdiction, ruling that the case involved the necessary interpretation and enforcement of constitutional provisions.
