Court Fixes Oct 31 For Judgment in Suit Seeking To Stop PDP National Convention

By Peter Salami

The Federal High Court in Abuja has fixed October 31 for judgment in a suit seeking to stop the 2025 National Convention of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) on grounds of violations of the party’s rules.
Justice James Omotosho fixed the date yesterday after taking arguments for and against the suit filed by three aggrieved members of the party.
Those who instituted the case are Hon Austin Nwachukwu (Imo PDP chairman), Hon Amah Abraham Nnanna (Abia PDP chairman) and Turnah Alabh George (PDP Secretary, South-South).
They instituted the suit seeking to stop the planned November 15 and 16, 2025 National Convention of PDP scheduled for Ibadan in Oyo State where new National Officers are expected to be elected on the ground of breach of the party’s Constitution.
The nine defendants are, Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), PDP, Samuel Anyanwu, National Secretary of the party, Umar Baturrle, National Organizing Secretary of the party, NWC and NEC of the party, Ambassador Umar Iliya Damagum, Ali Odefa and Emmanuel Ogidi.
At yesterday’s proceedings, Justice Omotosho still reaffirmed that his order on maintaining status quo in respect of the Convention must not be flouted by any of the parties involved in the suit.
The judge maintained that he would not hestate to nullify any step taken by any of the parties during the pendency of the case.
During the proceedings, Joseph Daudu SAN who represented the the three aggrieved members urged the court not to treat the complaints of the plaintiffs as internal affairs of the party but a step to enforce adherence to the 1999 Constitution, Electoral Act 2022 and the PDP Constitution.
The senior lawyer argued that Nigeria’s Constitution makes mandatory for the Independent National Electoral Commission INEC to monitor Congresse of political parties before they can be valid.
He said that the complaints of the three aggrieved members was that no valid Congresse were conducted in the 14 states before the PDP NWC and NEC issued notice for the November 16 and 17 Convention.
However, the acting National Chairman of the party, Ambassador Umar Iliya Damagum represented by Paul Erokoro SAN asked the judge to decline jurisdiction on the ground that issues of Convention and Congresse are internal affairs of the party.
His position was aligned with by Eyitayo Jegede SAN who stood for the National Working Committee NWC and the National Executive Committee NEC to the effects that courts cannot inquire into the internal affairs of the party.
Recall that the Federal Capital Territory Minister, Nyesom Wike, had warned that the convention would be truncated if leaders fail to resolve the party’s internal crisis
Speaking during his monthly media chat in Abuja, Wike clarified that his concern was not with the chosen venue but with the processes leading up to the event.
“The issue of the National convention is not the problem. The issue is the problems leading to the convention and people should understand that,” he said.
He stated this against media reports that suggested his objections were personal or related to the location.
“The venue is not the subject matter. The subject matter is; have you done what you are supposed to do before holding that convention?
“So you now go and turn it that I said Ibadan will not hold the convention, no that is not correct. We have held conventions in Port Harcourt and Abuja.
“So, the party can decide whether to hold it in Sokoto or Borno. But what we are saying is before you get to the convention, have you done what you are supposed to do?” he said.
Wike further revealed that his faction was taking steps to address their grievances, hinting at a decisive response.
“Our own team is meeting by 7pm today (Monday) and you will hear what we have to say,” he said.
However, he warned the party’s leadership, “If the issues are not well taken care of, there are likelihood that the convention will not hold.
“If they are not resolved to the satisfaction of the complaint, no problem, but if they are not, of course they will take action,” he said.
The minister noted that the PDP has taken preliminary steps to resolve the issues, including setting up a committee for the South-East and Ebonyi State, but insisted that satisfactory resolution was critical for the convention to proceed.