Olayiwola Matthew
A fresh leadership crisis has erupted within the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), as rival factions led by Nyesom Wike and Kabiru Turaki laid competing claims to the party’s control following a ruling by the supreme court.
Speaking at a press conference in Abuja on Thursday, Wike said the apex court judgment, which invalidated the PDP national convention held on November 15 and 16, 2025, had effectively ended all factions within the party.
“Today, the Supreme Court has brought to an end the so-called factions of the PDP. There is no more faction in the party. There is only one PDP,” he said.
Wike argued that the ruling validated the March 29 convention that produced Abdulrahman Mohammed and Samuel Anyanwu as national chairman and secretary, respectively.
“The supreme court has validated our convention and set aside all claims to any parallel structure. What this means is that the PDP has come to stay as one united party,” he added.
He described the judgment as a victory for due process and internal democracy, insisting that the PDP remains stable and positioned as a credible opposition to the ruling party.
However, the Turaki-backed faction of the party’s Board of Trustees (BoT) rejected Wike’s position, declaring that the judgment had, instead, created a leadership vacuum.
In a statement, Adolphus Wabara said the BoT had assumed control of the party to stabilise it and prevent further crisis.
According to Wabara, the Supreme Court’s decision invalidated both the Turaki-led and the rival leadership structures, thereby placing responsibility on the BoT as the next constitutional authority.
“The consequential invalidation of both the Abdulrahman Mohammed and Kabiru Tanimu Turaki-led Working Committees directly places the statutory onus of leadership of our great party on the shoulders of the Board of Trustees (BoT),” the statement read.
He added that the BoT would convene an emergency meeting of the National Executive Committee (NEC) to appoint an interim leadership that would steer the party’s affairs and prepare for upcoming elections.
The apex court, in a split decision, had dismissed the appeal filed by the Turaki-led faction seeking to validate the November 2025 convention, ruling that it violated an earlier order of the Federal High Court.
Justice Stephen Adah, who delivered the lead judgment, held that the appellants acted in disobedience of a subsisting court order restraining them from proceeding with the convention.
The development has deepened uncertainty within the PDP, with both factions interpreting the ruling to support their claims, even as party stakeholders continue consultations in Abuja to determine the way forward.
