BREAKING: Turaki-led PDP lost out as Court of Appeal declare Ibadan convention illegal

The Court of Appeal sitting in Abuja Monday upheld the judgment of the Federal High Court restraining the Independent National Electoral Commission INEC, from recognizing the outcome of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP held in Ibadan, Oyo State.

The three-member panel of judges led by Justice Uchechukwu Onyemenam, in a unanimous judgment dismissed an appeal filed by a faction of the PDP led by a former Minister of Special Duties, Kabiru Turaki, SAN.

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Turaki had challenged the jurisdiction of the lower court to entertain the suit.

The Appeal Court judgment formed part of nine harmonised appeals brought by the Turaki-led faction against the October 31, 2025 judgment of the Federal High Court in Abuja, which barred INEC from validating the outcome of the party’s November 15 and 16, 2025 national convention in Ibadan.

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In its ruling, the Court of Appeal affirmed that the Federal High Court had jurisdiction to hear the suit, rejecting the argument that the dispute was merely an internal affair of the party.

The court held that the appellants could not “repackage a clear violation of the party constitution and that of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria as an internal party affair.”

Justice Onyemenam further held that the PDP failed to comply with the constitutional and statutory provisions required before a valid national convention could be held.

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