Nyesom Wike dismisses Oyo Court ruling approving PDP convention, saying the Abuja judgment halting the event remains legally binding.
Nyesom Wike has dismissed the ruling of an Oyo State High Court that approved the Peoples Democratic Party’s (PDP) planned national convention scheduled for November 15 and 16, 2025, in Ibadan, describing it as inferior to an earlier Federal High Court judgment.
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Justice Ladiran Akintola of the Oyo court, on Tuesday, granted an ex parte motion filed by Folahan Adelabi in suit number I/1336/2025, allowing the PDP to proceed with its convention and restraining any attempt to halt it. The case was adjourned to November 10, 2025, for hearing on the motion on notice.
However, the ruling directly contradicts a Federal High Court judgment delivered last Friday by Justice James Omotosho in Abuja, which restrained the PDP from holding the convention pending compliance with its constitution and the Electoral Act.
Justice Omotosho, ruling in suit number FHC/ABJ/CS/2120/2025, also directed the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) not to recognise the outcome of any convention conducted in breach of due process.
The conflicting rulings have deepened the legal uncertainty surrounding the PDP’s planned convention, exposing the party’s continuing leadership crisis.
Reacting through his Senior Special Assistant, Lere Olayinka, the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Wike, said the Abuja judgment takes precedence and must be obeyed.
“Are you unaware of the last Friday judgment of the Federal High Court? Another court now gave an ex parte order! Do you know what an ex parte order means? It expires in seven days or at most 14. Is the High Court in Ibadan an appellate court?” Wike queried.
“A court gave a judgment that INEC should not attend, and now you went to Ibadan to get an order. Is that an order you should obey? Is an order higher than a judgment?” he added.
Meanwhile, the PDP’s internal divisions have further intensified. Factional National Chairman Umar Damagum has suspended several senior party officials, including Senator Samuel Anyanwu, for alleged anti-party activities.
In a letter to INEC dated November 1, 2025, Damagum, along with Deputy National Chairman (South) Taofeek Arapaja and twelve others, announced the suspension of four national officers, pending disciplinary action.
The letter stated that the decision was made during the 608th emergency meeting of the National Working Committee (NWC) and invoked sections 57 to 59 of the PDP constitution.
The suspended officials were directed to hand over to their deputies, with Hon. Setonji Koshoedo now acting as National Secretary.
However, the Deputy National Youth Leader, Timothy Osadolor, criticised the move, describing the suspensions as “illegal and procedurally flawed.”
He blamed the crisis on what he called “the leadership failure of most PDP governors,” singling out Governor Ahmadu Fintiri of Adamawa as an exception.
“The governors hijacked the leadership of the party from the chairman. They must come down from their high horse and find a way out,” Osadolor said.
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As the PDP grapples with multiple legal disputes and factional struggles, party insiders fear the ongoing turmoil could derail its efforts to regroup ahead of the 2027 general elections.
