The Independent National Electoral Commission, on Monday, formally recognised a faction of the National Working Committee of the Peoples Democratic Party aligned with the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike.
The development was confirmed as INEC updated the PDP’s leadership structure on its official website, listing members of the party’s national executive.
Among those recognised by INEC are Abdulrahman Mohammed as National Chairman and Samuel Anyanwu as National Secretary, alongside other key officials.
Both Mohammed and Anyanwu emerged from the PDP National Convention held on Sunday night at the velodrome of the National Stadium in Abuja, where members of the NWC were re-elected by consensus following the dissolution of the party’s National Caretaker Committee.
The electoral body also recognised Aaron Chukwuemeka – Deputy National Chairman (South), Yusufu Akirikwen — Deputy National Chairman (North), and Kolawale Olabisi — Deputy National Secretary.
Odeyemi Oladiran — National Treasurer, Lado Marke — Deputy National Treasurer and Eyim Henry — National Financial Secretary.
Also recognised are Grema Kyari — Deputy National Financial Secretary, Umar Bature — National Organising Secretary, Efere Augustine — Deputy National Organising Secretary, Jungudo Mohammed — National Publicity Secretary, Egwu Chidiebere — Deputy National Publicity Secretary, Kamaldeen Ajibade — National Legal Adviser and Aloysius Uba — Deputy National Legal Adviser.
Also on the INEC list are Osuoha Donatus — National Auditor, Adaba Seri Yatu — Deputy National Auditor, Ogunshe Adedayo — National Women Leader, Hauwa Shinge — Deputy National Women Leader, Ibrahim Aboki — National Youth Leader and Momoh Bashir — Deputy National Youth Leader
This comes as the Federal High Court in Abuja on Monday restrained a faction of the PDP led by a former Minister, Tanimu Turaki (SAN), from accessing or interfering with the party’s national secretariat.
Justice Joyce Abdulmalik gave the order while delivering judgment in a suit filed by a rival faction of the party loyal to the FCT minister.
The judge held that members of the Turaki-led faction, who emerged from the party’s November 2025 convention, have no legal right to occupy or conduct activities at the secretariat.
She consequently granted an order of injunction restraining them from entering, using or holding meetings at the facility.
The court also directed security agencies, including the police and the Department of State Services, to provide adequate protection for the plaintiffs in the use of the secretariat.
Justice Abdulmalik held that the convention held between November 15 and 16, 2025, which produced the rival faction, was conducted in violation of the constitution, the PDP constitution and subsisting court orders.
She declared that all decisions taken at the convention, including the election of officials and suspension of members, were “unconstitutional, null and void and of no effect.”
The judge further restrained the INEC from recognising any leadership that emerged from the convention.
The plaintiffs had approached the court on November 21, 2025, seeking to stop the Turaki-led faction from parading itself as the leadership of the party and from taking control of its national secretariat.
They also urged the court to compel INEC and security agencies to enforce earlier judgments delivered by Justices James Omotosho and Peter Lifu, which barred the conduct of the convention.
In her judgment, Justice Abdulmalik held that the defendants acted in defiance of subsisting court orders, which were later affirmed by the Court of Appeal.
She said Section 287(3) of the 1999 Constitution makes it mandatory for all authorities and persons to enforce decisions of courts of competent jurisdiction.
The judge also dismissed preliminary objections by the defendants challenging the jurisdiction of the court and the competence of the suit.
She held that the case involved the enforcement of constitutional provisions and existing court judgments, and was not merely an internal party dispute.
Justice Abdulmalik further rejected an application asking her to recuse herself from the case, describing the allegations of bias as unsubstantiated.
She noted that claims of likelihood of bias must be supported by credible evidence, adding that there was no material before the court to justify such a request.
The court observed that although there were conflicting decisions from an Oyo State High Court, the subsisting judgments of the Federal High Court, as affirmed by the Court of Appeal, remained binding.
The Turaki-led faction had conducted the convention in Ibadan, Oyo State, where it elected members of the National Working Committee and suspended some party officials aligned with the Wike faction.
Those affected included the National Secretary, Samuel Anyanwu, and other members of the party leadership.
However, the Court of Appeal, on March 9, upheld earlier decisions invalidating the convention.
Reacting, counsel for the plaintiffs, Onyechi Ikpeazu (SAN), said the judgment had reinforced the position of his clients and validated a fresh convention conducted by the faction on March 29.
Turaki camp awaits Supreme Court
The governors-backed Turaki NWC has dismissed the convention backed by Wike as a “jamboree,” describing it as illegitimate and in contempt of ongoing legal proceedings.
The governors-backed NWC, in a statement issued on Monday by its National Publicity Secretary, Ini Ememobong, announced that it had approached the Supreme Court to seek a final resolution of the party’s leadership dispute.
Ememobong stated, “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 and are asking what the future holds for the party and, by extension, our country’s democracy.
“To them, and other fair-minded, democracy-loving Nigerians, we reassure that we have taken this battle to the Supreme Court for the determination of all the issues relating to the leadership of our party, particularly as it relates to what constitutes an internal affair.
“With this appeal and the relevant concomitant applications filed and served on all the parties involved, we are hopeful that, sooner rather than later, the apex court will, in the interest of democracy, expeditiously hear and adjudicate on this matter.
“For the avoidance of doubt, we state that the pre-Easter jamboree of APC sympathisers and members of Wike’s Autocratic Party, which they mischievously tagged a PDP convention, was held in contempt of the Court of Appeal, where parties had entered appearances and agreed with the court on the way to proceed with the matter, only to turn around and undertake acts capable of destroying the res.”
The Turaki camp disclosed that the Wike group had been served with the appeal processes at the Supreme Court, along with other legal actions challenging the conduct of the convention.
It stated, “The validity of that gathering is now a matter before the court, which we will diligently follow to its conclusion.
“Additionally, the Federal High Court, Abuja, per Justice Abdulmalik, whom we had earlier applied to for recusal on the basis of her alleged bias against us, delivered judgment this morning in favour of the Wike-backed APC apologists, granting them access to the PDP secretariat and directing security agencies to offer them protection while in occupation of the said secretariat.
“In response, we have directed our lawyers to immediately file an appeal and other relevant applications against this judgment.
“On the whole, we must admit what is already public knowledge—these are very trying times for us, the PDP, and all opposition parties in Nigeria.
“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.
“This fear is fuelled by their knowledge of the impending rejection Nigerians are poised to deliver due to their abysmal performance in core governance issues such as security, the economy, and social welfare.”
The NWC called on PDP members and Nigerians to remain hopeful that the Supreme Court will uphold multi-party democracy.
After nearly three years of internal crisis, the PDP split into rival factions.
The governors’ bloc, supported by Seyi Makinde (Oyo) and Bala Mohammed, held a convention in Ibadan (Bauchi) on November 16, where Turaki (SAN) and others were elected into the National Working Committee, while the Wike-aligned faction later set up a caretaker committee led by Abdulrahman Mohammed and Samuel Anyanwu.
The Court of Appeal upheld a ruling that invalidated the Ibadan convention, although another panel urged reconciliation.
Despite early reconciliation efforts, disagreements stalled progress, leading the party to seek the Supreme Court’s intervention to stop a Wike-backed convention held on Sunday.
However, without any court order, the Wike-backed faction proceeded to elect Mohammed as National Chairman, Anyanwu as National Secretary, and 17 others as members of the National Working Committee.
(Punch)
