The battle for control of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) intensified on Tuesday as allies of the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, filed a suit at the Federal High Court in Abuja seeking to nullify the party’s November 15–16 national convention held in Ibadan.
In the suit marked FHC/ABJ/CS/2501/2025, the plaintiffs — the PDP (as listed in the filing), acting national chairman Mohammed Abdulrahman, and national secretary Samuel Anyanwu — urged the court to declare the convention invalid and restrain the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) from recognising any officers or decisions that emerged from it.
They argue that the convention violated three subsisting Federal High Court judgements that should have guided the party’s actions: the October 31 judgement in Austine Nwachukwu v INEC; the November 11 interim and November 14 final rulings in Sule Lamido v PDP; and the May 31, 2023 judgement in Nyesom Wike v PDP.
According to the plaintiffs, these rulings affected the validity of the statutory 21-day notice required ahead of the convention, rendering the Ibadan gathering unlawful. Despite this, they say, the fifth to twenty-fifth defendants pushed ahead, producing new national officers and issuing suspensions and expulsions that largely targeted Wike-aligned members.
The suit also references escalating tensions at the PDP’s national headquarters. In an affidavit, Anyanwu claimed a rival faction attempted on November 18 to “forcibly take control” of Wadata Plaza and Legacy House. He further alleged that security agencies sealed both buildings, blocking 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 asking the court to affirm that INEC, the police, and the DSS are obligated to enforce the earlier judgements, stop any institution from recognising the Ibadan convention, and compel security agencies to restore their access to the party secretariat.
They also seek clarity on whether any authority can lawfully validate the convention while relevant court rulings remain unresolved.
The case is yet to be assigned to a judge.