By Mogaji Wole Arisekola.
The legality of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) convention held in Ibadan, Oyo State, may soon be conclusively determined, as the Supreme Court of Nigeria is expected to deliver a decisive ruling next week.
In a prior judgment delivered in 2025, Justice Peter Lifu of the Federal High Court of Nigeria, Abuja Division, expressly restrained the National Executive Committee of the PDP, then led by Ambassador Iliya Damagum, from proceeding with the scheduled national convention of the party fixed for November 15 and 16, 2026, in Ibadan.
Notwithstanding that subsisting court order, a faction of the party aligned with Bala Mohammed and Seyi Makinde proceeded to organise and conduct the convention.
From a legal standpoint, and based on my experience as a crime and judicial reporter, the appropriate procedural step available to the aggrieved faction would have been to approach the Court of Appeal of Nigeria to set aside the Federal High Court’s decision. Instead, recourse was reportedly made to a State High Court sitting in Ibadan, raising serious jurisdictional and constitutional concerns.
It is a well-established principle of Nigerian law that courts of coordinate jurisdiction cannot nullify or sit on appeal over the decisions of one another. More critically, a State High Court does not possess supervisory or appellate authority over the Federal High Court. Any deviation from this settled position would represent a significant and controversial departure from precedent—an issue the Supreme Court is now called upon to clarify.
While it is trite law that the nomination of candidates and conduct of party primaries fall within the internal affairs of political parties, judicial intervention becomes inevitable where there is a clear breach of a subsisting court order. Once a court of competent jurisdiction has issued a binding directive, compliance is mandatory unless and until such order is set aside by a superior court.
I was at the court in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State, in 2019 during the electoral petition between Senator Godswill Akpabio and Senator Ekpeyong, and at the Court of Appeal between Barrister Niyi Jegede and Chief Jimoh Ibrahim (Alimodu Sheriff faction of PDP vs. Makarfi faction). It was clearly established during the proceedings of the two matters before my lordship.
Fast forward, in its judgment delivered last month, the Court of Appeal rejected the argument that the dispute was purely an internal party matter beyond judicial scrutiny. The appellate court held that the convention conducted in Ibadan was in flagrant disobedience of a valid court order.
Consequently, the three-member panel nullified the outcome of the convention, declaring all actions taken therein legally ineffective and void.
The matter now awaits final determination by the Supreme Court. Its forthcoming decision is expected to not only resolve the PDP leadership dispute but also reinforce critical jurisprudence on judicial hierarchy, obedience to court orders, and the limits of intra-party autonomy under Nigerian law.
Mogaji Wole Arisekola, Publisher of The Street Journal Newspaper, writes from Ibadan.
