The leadership crisis within the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) escalated on Monday as the faction backed by party governors dismissed the rival faction’s recent convention as an illegitimate “jamboree” and announced it is taking the legal battle to the Supreme Court.
The National Working Committee (NWC) loyal to the PDP Governors’ Forum, led by Tanimu Turaki (SAN), condemned the convention held by the faction associated with the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike. In a statement issued by its National Publicity Secretary, Ini Ememobong, the group argued that the gathering was conducted in contempt of ongoing court proceedings.
“With the series of disturbing activities occurring in succession within the last 48 hours, genuine members of the Peoples Democratic Party across the country have expressed their concerns,” Ememobong said. He reassured party members that the leadership has “taken this battle to the Supreme Court for the determination of all the issues relating to the leadership of our party.”
The faction described the Wike-backed convention as a “pre-Easter jamboree of APC sympathisers,” asserting that its validity is now a matter for the judiciary. According to the statement, the group has already filed appeals and served legal processes on the opposing faction.
The Turaki-led NWC also addressed a recent Federal High Court ruling in Abuja, delivered by Justice Abdulmalik, which granted the Wike-aligned faction access to the national secretariat. The group stated it has instructed its lawyers to immediately file an appeal against that judgment.
The faction further alleged that the ongoing crisis is orchestrated by the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) to weaken opposition politics. “These crises are clearly orchestrated by the Bola Tinubu-led APC government, which has shown morbid fear of the existence of alternative political platforms and is determined to foist a one-party state on the country,” the statement read.
The development marks the latest chapter in the PDP’s nearly three-year-long internal crisis, which has resulted in two rival leadership structures.
One faction, supported by governors including Seyi Makinde of Oyo State and Bala Mohammed of Bauchi State, held a convention in Ibadan in November, where Turaki was elected to lead the NWC.
The other faction, loyal to Wike, recently established a caretaker committee and proceeded with its own convention on Sunday, electing Abdulrahman Mohammed as National Chairman and Senator Samuel Anyanwu as National Secretary, among others.
While the Court of Appeal has previously invalidated the Ibadan convention, it also urged reconciliation between the warring parties. However, with reconciliation efforts stalled, both factions are now looking to the Supreme Court for a final resolution.