The crisis rocking the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) worsened on Tuesday as loyalists of the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, filed a fresh suit at the Federal High Court in Abuja seeking to void the party’s national convention held in Ibadan between November 15 and 16.
In the suit marked FHC/ABJ/CS/2501/2025, the plaintiffs — listed as the PDP, acting national chairman Mohammed Abdulrahman, and national secretary Samuel Anyanwu — asked the court to declare the Ibadan convention illegal, invalid and of no effect, insisting it violated multiple subsisting court orders.
They also urged the court to restrain the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) from recognising all officers elected at the convention, as well as all decisions and disciplinary actions that emanated from it.
The Wike-aligned faction argued that the party proceeded with the convention in defiance of three Federal High Court judgements they claim directly impacted the validity of the statutory 21-day notice issued for the event.
The disputed rulings include: the October 31 judgment in Austine Nwachukwu v. INEC ; interim and final orders delivered on November 11 and 14 in Sule Lamido v. PDP ; and the May 31, 2023 decision in Nyesom Wike v. PDP
According to the plaintiffs, obeying those judgements would have compelled the PDP to halt or reschedule the convention.
The suit alleges that despite the court orders, the fifth to twenty-fifth defendants “went ahead to stage the Ibadan convention,” where new national officers were elected and several suspensions and expulsions announced — actions the plaintiffs say were aimed at weakening Wike’s faction.
In an accompanying affidavit, national secretary Anyanwu alleged that a rival group attempted on November 18 to “forcibly take control” of both Wadata Plaza and Legacy House, the party’s national secretariat buildings in Abuja.
He further claimed that instead of enforcing the earlier court orders, security agencies sealed the premises and barred him and the acting chairman from accessing their offices.
“The 2nd to 4th defendants have now sealed up the premises of the 1st plaintiff and denied the 2nd and 3rd plaintiffs access to their offices,” the affidavit stated.
The plaintiffs are seeking an order compelling INEC, the police and the DSS to enforce the earlier court rulings and restore their access to the secretariat.
The suit also asks the court to determine whether any individual, institution or authority can legally validate the Ibadan convention while the referenced court judgements remain in force.
As of press time, the case had not been assigned to a judge.
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