The leadership crisis rocking the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, took a fresh twist on Friday as the Federal High Court in Abuja shifted hearing in the suit filed by the pro-Nyesom Wike faction to January 14, 2026.
Justice Joyce Abdulmalik adjourned the matter after informing parties that the motion seeking her recusal had not been served on all respondents.
The lawsuit seeks to nullify the recent PDP national convention held in Ibadan, which produced Ambassador Umar Damagum and other officers currently laying claim to the party’s national leadership.
In a dramatic turn, a faction of the party loyal to former National Chairman Kabiru Turaki, SAN, filed a motion alleging that Justice Abdulmalik had shown “clear signs of bias” in her handling of the matter.
The group, represented by a team of seven Senior Advocates of Nigeria led by Chief Chris Uche, accused the judge of delivering ex parte orders that “mirrored” a previous ruling by another judge seen as unfavourable to the Turaki camp.
According to them, there exists “a reasonable and well-founded apprehension of likelihood of bias against the 5th to 25th defendants/applicants in the manner this suit has been handled.”
They argued that although Justice Abdulmalik earlier rejected an ex parte motion by the Wike-aligned group, she subsequently issued restrictions preventing their own faction from taking decisions on behalf of the party.
“Judicial proceedings must not only be fair but must manifestly appear to be fair,” the applicants said in their deposition.
They insisted the judge should step aside because her continued involvement “raises a legitimate apprehension that the defendants may not receive a fair, impartial, and unbiased consideration of their case.”
Justice Abdulmalik held that the application asking her to recuse herself could not be heard because some of the parties had not been served.
She also noted that the court must allow proper service and responses before entertaining such a motion.
The court subsequently adjourned both the main suit and the recusal application to January 14, 2026.
The substantive case, filed by Acting National Chairman Mohammed Abdulrahman and National Secretary Senator Samuel Anyanwu of the Wike camp, seeks to restrain Damagum and others elected at the Ibadan convention from parading themselves as party leaders.
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), the Inspector General of Police, the FCT Commissioner of Police, and the State Security Service were also listed as defendants.
The plaintiffs are asking the court to: Bar INEC from recognising Damagum’s leadership, prevent the defendants from “invading” the PDP national secretariat, compel security agencies to protect the Wike-aligned leadership at Wadata Plaza and Legacy House and restrict the use of any other address as the PDP headquarters
In a separate counter-action filed by the Turaki-led leadership—suit number FHC/ABJ/CS/2520/2025—the faction is asking the court to order the police to vacate Wadata Plaza and allow them access to their offices.
That matter was adjourned to January 16, 2026.
The multiple suits, accusations of judicial bias, and overlapping claims to the national secretariat underscore the deepening factional war within the PDP, with no resolution in sight.
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