The Nyesom Wike–backed faction of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has filed a suit at the Federal High Court in Abuja seeking to stop the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and security agencies from recognising the national convention held in Ibadan on November 15 and 16.
In the suit marked FHC/ABJ/CS/2501/2025, the plaintiffs — the PDP, acting national chairman Mohammed Abdulrahman, and national secretary Samuel Anyanwu — are asking the court to declare the Ibadan convention and all decisions taken there as “null, void and of no effect.”
The plaintiffs are aligned with the faction loyal to Nyesom Wike, minister of the Federal Capital Territory.
At the Ibadan convention, Anyanwu, Wike, Ayo Fayose, and eight other party chieftains were expelled from the PDP.
The suit seeks an order restraining INEC, the inspector-general of police, the FCT commissioner of police, and the Department of State Services (DSS) from recognising the newly constituted leadership — including Umar Damagum and Kabiru Turaki — listed as the 6th to 25th defendants.
The plaintiffs contend that the convention was held in defiance of three subsisting judgments of the Federal High Court, including:
- the judgment of October 31 in FHC/ABJ/CS/2120/2025 (Austine Nwachukwu v INEC & Ors)
- the interim order of November 11 and judgment of November 14 in FHC/ABJ/CS/2299/2025 (Sule Lamido v PDP & Ors)
- the judgment of May 31, 2023, in FHC/ABJ/CS/139/2023 (Nyesom Wike v PDP & Ors)
According to the plaintiffs, these rulings invalidated the 21-day notice issued for the convention and expressly barred the party from proceeding with it. They alleged that despite this, the 5th to 25th defendants went ahead to “organise themselves” in Ibadan and purportedly elected new national officers and issued suspensions and expulsions.
In an affidavit, Anyanwu said the Wike-backed leadership attempted on November 18 to take control of the party’s national secretariat at Wadata Plaza and Legacy House in Abuja but was prevented from doing so. Instead, he claimed, the police and DSS sealed the buildings and denied them access.
The plaintiffs want the court to declare that INEC and the security agencies are constitutionally bound to enforce the subsisting judgments and to restrain them from recognising products of the Ibadan convention.
They also seek orders directing the police and DSS to provide protection for them and grant access to the official PDP secretariat buildings, and restraining INEC from accepting any change of the party’s address beyond the two recognised Abuja locations.
The suit has not yet been assigned to a judge, and a hearing date has not been fixed
