Court Fixes July 10 to Decide PDP Leadership Dispute Between Wike and Turaki Factions

The Federal High Court in Abuja has fixed 10 July for judgment in the leadership dispute within the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), which pits a faction reportedly aligned with the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, against the Interim National Working Committee (NWC) led by Tanimu Turaki.

Justice Salim Ibrahim scheduled the judgment after hearing arguments from parties for and against a suit instituted by the Chairman of the PDP Board of Trustees (BoT), Senator Adolphus Wabara, and eight others.

The suit, marked FHC/ABJ/CS/1159/2026, seeks, among other reliefs, an order compelling the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to recognise the Turaki-led Interim National Working Committee as the authentic leadership of the party.

The plaintiffs based their action on INEC’s alleged failure to upload the names of members of the Turaki-led interim executive on its official website ahead of preparations for the 2027 general elections.

The legal dispute follows a series of leadership developments within the opposition party. In April, the Supreme Court nullified the PDP’s national convention held in Ibadan on 15 and 16 November 2025, which had produced the Turaki-led national executive. Following that judgment, the Wabara-led Board of Trustees constituted an interim leadership to oversee the party’s affairs pending the election of a new national executive.

However, after the expiration of the tenure of the Ambassador Iliya Damagum-led National Working Committee in December 2025, another faction of the party, reportedly loyal to Wike, established a separate interim national executive, which subsequently produced the Abdulrahman Mohammed-led leadership in March 2026.

According to the plaintiffs, INEC currently recognises the leadership associated with the Wike-backed faction on its official website, a decision they are challenging before the court.

The plaintiffs include Wabara, BoT Secretary and former Niger State Governor Mu’azu Babangida Aliyu, former Minister of Information Prof. Jerry Gana, PDP chieftain Chief Olabode George, former Minister of Women Affairs Hajiya Maryam Ciroma, former Minister of Women Affairs and Social Development Hajiya Zainab Maina, BoT and National Executive Committee member Dame Esther Uduehi, and the Peoples Democratic Party.

They are asking the court to direct INEC to immediately update its records and publish on its website the names of the Turaki-led Interim National Working Committee, which they said were formally submitted to the electoral commission through letters dated 4 May.

During proceedings, Justice Ibrahim granted applications by members of the Wike-backed faction to join the suit.

The newly joined defendants argued preliminary objections, contending that the Supreme Court had already determined issues relating to the party’s leadership and internal disciplinary matters. They further maintained that the dispute constituted an internal affair of the PDP, over which the court lacked jurisdiction.

Counsel for the plaintiffs, however, argued that the matter was fundamentally between the PDP and INEC concerning the electoral body’s statutory responsibilities, rather than an internal party dispute.

They further submitted that a previous judgment of the Federal High Court, delivered by Justice James Omotosho in related proceedings, had held that issues involving INEC’s recognition of party officials were not purely internal party matters.

The plaintiffs therefore urged the court to dismiss the preliminary objections and the counter-affidavits filed by the opposing faction, and to grant all the reliefs sought in their originating summons.

After hearing submissions from all parties, Justice Ibrahim reserved judgment until Friday, 10 July, when the court is expected to determine the authentic leadership of the PDP recognised for electoral purposes.