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The National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party, Tanimu Turaki (SAN), has dismissed the recent Federal High Court judgment delivered in Ibadan as merely academic, calling on the Court of Appeal to consolidate all pending party-related suits for a single binding decision.
Turaki spoke on Friday at a press briefing in Abuja, where he disclosed that the party’s National Working Committee had filed a Notice of Appeal alongside a Motion for Stay of Execution against the judgment.
The Federal High Court in Ibadan had earlier nullified the PDP National Convention held in Oyo State on November 15, 2025, and restrained Turaki and other officials from presenting themselves as national officers of the party.
Before the ruling, PDP governors had endorsed the Ibadan convention, which produced Turaki and members of the NWC for a four-year term, a position opposed by the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory and his allies, who maintained that Abdulrahman and Samuel Anyanwu remained Acting National Chairman and Acting National Secretary.
Although governors supervised a transition from former chairman Umar Damagum to Turaki before Damagum’s tenure elapsed on December 9, the faction aligned with the FCT minister constituted a 13-member caretaker committee on December 8, assigning it a 60-day mandate.
Both factions later approached the Independent National Electoral Commission for recognition, but the electoral body declined, citing ongoing disputes, a development that triggered multiple lawsuits ahead of the 2027 general elections.
Reacting to the judgment, the Turaki-led NWC, through its Publicity Secretary, Ememobong, said the party had instructed its lawyers to exhaust all available legal remedies, while the rival faction welcomed the ruling restraining the NWC from operating.
Turaki explained that the suit was originally filed to compel INEC, through an order of mandamus, to recognise the Ibadan convention, adding that the caretaker committee was joined in the case and opposed the reliefs sought.
He faulted the court for granting orders that were not requested by any of the parties, insisting that the ruling conflicted with subsisting judgments of courts of equal jurisdiction and would ultimately be resolved at the appellate level.
Turaki expressed confidence that the pending appeals would be heard soon, noting that all parties had filed their briefs and urging the Court of Appeal to consolidate the related cases to ensure finality and restore stability within the party.