A faction of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) loyal to FCT Minister Nyesom Wike has filed a suit at the Federal High Court in Abuja seeking to stop the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) from recognising the party’s national convention held in Ibadan, Oyo State, on November 15 and 16. The suit, marked FHC/ABJ/CS/2501/2025, was filed by the PDP alongside Mohammed Abdulrahman, the acting national chairman, and Samuel Anyanwu, the national secretary. They are asking the court to declare the Ibadan convention and all decisions taken there as “null, void and of no effect.”

During the Ibadan convention, Anyanwu, Wike, former Ekiti State governor Ayo Fayose, and several other leaders were expelled from the party. The plaintiffs argue that INEC, the police, the DSS and other agencies must not recognise the newly announced national officers, including Umar Damagum and Kabiru Turaki, insisting that they were unlawfully elected.

In the originating summons, the plaintiffs claimed that the convention was conducted in clear violation of multiple existing court orders. They cited the judgement of October 31 in FHC/ABJ/CS/2120/2025 (Austine Nwachukwu v INEC & Ors), an interim injunction granted on November 11, the judgement of November 14 in FHC/ABJ/CS/2299/2025 (Alhaji Sule Lamido v PDP & Ors), and an earlier judgement delivered on May 31, 2023, in FHC/ABJ/CS/139/2023 (Nyesom Wike v PDP & Ors). According to them, these rulings invalidated the 21-day notice issued for the convention and expressly restrained the party from holding it.

In an affidavit deposed to by Anyanwu, he alleged that the group behind the Ibadan gathering attempted to forcibly take over the PDP national secretariat at Wadata Plaza and Legacy House in Abuja on November 18. He said the attempt was resisted, but instead of enforcing the court orders, the police and the Department of State Services sealed the premises and denied him and Abdulrahman access to their offices. He stated that the security agencies “have now sealed up the premises of the 1st plaintiff and denied the 2nd and 3rd plaintiffs access to their offices.”

The plaintiffs want the court to declare that INEC, the Inspector-General of Police, the FCT Commissioner of Police and the DSS are constitutionally obligated to enforce all earlier judgements concerning the party’s internal affairs. They also seek an order stopping INEC from recognising the Ibadan convention or any decisions arising from it. Additionally, they are urging the court to restrain the officials elected at the convention from parading themselves as PDP leaders and to compel security agencies to provide protection for Abdulrahman and Anyanwu, grant them unrestricted access to Wadata Plaza and Legacy House, and prevent INEC from accepting any new party address outside the two existing official locations in Abuja.

The plaintiffs further request the court’s clarification on whether any authority can lawfully recognise the Ibadan convention in light of subsisting judgements, the Nigerian Constitution, the Electoral Act, and the PDP constitution. The suit has not yet been assigned to a judge, and no hearing date has been scheduled.