Justice Peter Lifu of the Federal High Court in Abuja has issued a final order stopping the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) from proceeding with its 2025 national convention scheduled for Ibadan, Oyo state.
The convention is billed to hold between November 15 and 16 for the purpose of electing national officers for the opposition party.
Delivering judgment in a suit filed by former Jigawa State governor, Sule Lamido, Justice Lifu barred the PDP from proceeding with the convention until it complies with its constitution and guidelines on the convention.
He ordered that the convention must be put on hold until Lamido is allowed to purchase a nomination form for the office of the national chairman.
The judge further prohibited the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) from supervising, monitoring, or aiding the convention until the former governor is allowed to participate in the convention.
The judge held that PDP is under strict obligation to adhere to its own rules and regulations by giving opportunities to eligible members to realize their aspirations.
Lifu added that it was wrong of the PDP to have denied Lamido the opportunity to purchase a nomination form for the office of National Chairman of the party.
Lamido, in an ex-parte motion filed by his lawyer Jeph Njikonye, on October 31, had prayed the court to grant the interim order pending the hearing of the motion on notice.
He argued that if PDP was not restrained, the party would violate its constitution and deny him the opportunity to contest for national chairman.
On October 31, Justice Lifu declined to grant the motion but ordered PDP and INEC to show cause why Lamido’s reliefs should not be granted, giving them 72 hours to respond.
The matter was adjourned to 6 November.
The national convention has been a contested issue marked by conflicting court judgments of recent.
On November 4, the Oyo State High Court ordered the PDP and the party’s National Chairman, Umar Damagum, to proceed with the convention.
The presiding judge, A. L. Akintola, issued the order following an ex parte application filed by Folahan Adelabi.
Angered by the action, some allies of the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, asked the National Judicial Council (NJC) to sanction Akintola over alleged judicial indiscretion and abuse of office.
‘Convention Must Hold’
Amid the crisis rocking the main opposition party, PDP governors insisted that the party’s 2025 National Elective Convention must hold.
The governors said this after a critical stakeholders meeting on Thursday night at the Bauchi State Governor’s Lodge in Asokoro, Abuja.
Those who attended the meeting were National Working Committee members, serving and former governors, National Assembly members, Board of Trustees (BoT) members, and state party chairmen, among others.
‘Caretaker Committee, Not Convention’
However, there has been a call for the temporary cancellation of the convention to sort out pending issues in the PDP.
A former Senate President, Bukola Saraki, asked the party to shelve its national convention scheduled for 15 and 16 November 2025, advising the opposition party to instead appoint a caretaker committee.
Saraki, a former governor of Kwara State, stated this when he received members of the PDP BoT reconciliation team on Wednesday.
“My advice to the BOT team is that the only solution available to us now is for the party to set up a caretaker committee to steer the affairs of the party for the time being,” Saraki wrote on his X handle after the meeting.
“This must be done in the next two days. This is the path to true reconciliation and stability of the party. It is also the best way to give confidence to our members who intend to contest elections on the PDP platform,” the senator added.
