The internal affairs of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) have been dramatically seized by the judiciary, as a Federal High Court in Abuja on Friday ordered the opposition party to immediately put its planned national convention on hold and include former Jigawa State Governor, Sule Lamido, as a legitimate contestant for the national chairmanship position.
In a sweeping judgment that effectively paralyses the party’s current political schedule, Justice Peter Lifu ruled that the PDP had unjustly denied Lamido the opportunity to obtain a nomination form, a fundamental violation of both the party’s Constitution and its internal regulations.
Justice Lifu declared that the PDP is under a constitutional obligation to foster opportunities for its members to aspire to leadership roles. To rectify the breach of internal democracy, the court ordered the party to immediately make arrangements for Lamido to obtain the necessary nomination form, mobilize his supporters, and conduct his campaign.
Crucially, the judgment issued a restraining order against the nation’s electoral umpire. Justice Lifu explicitly barred the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) from supervising, monitoring, or recognising the outcome of any convention the PDP might attempt to hold without the explicit inclusion of Sule Lamido as a bona fide contestant.
The court’s directive to put the convention “on hold” until the plaintiff is allowed to participate creates an immediate constitutional crisis for the PDP, which has been grappling with intense internal factionalism ahead of the leadership election. This ruling comes after Lamido filed a suit alleging he was wrongfully excluded from the contest.
The order underscores the judiciary’s commitment to enforcing internal party democracy, particularly in matters of fair representation and candidate selection. It serves as a stark reminder to political parties that internal rules must be respected, and that exclusion, even in the lead-up to high-stakes political contests, will not be tolerated by the courts.
The PDP, which has already been contending with conflicting pronouncements from different factions regarding the convention’s status, now faces the formidable task of revising its entire convention timeline and logistics to comply with the court’s strict mandate. The ruling throws the opposition party’s plans into immediate turmoil and guarantees a period of intensified legal and political maneuvering.
