The Federal High Court in Abuja has rejected an application seeking to stop the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) from holding its upcoming national convention and leadership meetings.
Justice James Omotosho, who delivered the ruling on Thursday, declined to grant the plaintiffs’ ex parte motion for an interim injunction restraining both the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and the PDP from proceeding with the planned gatherings.
The suit, filed under number FHC/ABJ/CS/2120/2025, was instituted by Austine Nwachukwu, the PDP chairman in Imo State; Amah Abraham Nnanna, chairman of the party’s Abia State chapter; and Turnah George, the South-South Secretary of the PDP.
The plaintiffs, reportedly allies of the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, are opposed to the PDP’s proposed national convention. Wike, though still a PDP member, has in recent months been at odds with the party’s national leadership and is believed to be working to strengthen President Bola Tinubu’s 2027 re-election prospects.
In June, Wike met with several PDP stakeholders from the South-South and South-East regions, pushing for the postponement of the party’s national convention—originally scheduled for August 28—to a later date in October to allow for further consultations and political strategy.
In their suit, the plaintiffs asked the court to compel INEC to ensure that the PDP does not hold any meetings, congresses, or conventions “unless proper notice has been given and a democratic process has been established.” They specifically requested that the court halt the PDP’s National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting slated for October 18 and its national convention scheduled for November 15–16, 2025, pending the determination of their substantive application.
The plaintiffs also urged the court to restrain INEC from participating in or monitoring any PDP leadership meetings—including the planned NEC, caucus, or National Working Committee (NWC) sessions—set for October 15 or any subsequent date.
Furthermore, they asked the court to bar INEC from accepting any 21-day statutory notice from PDP officials such as Samuel Anyanwu (National Secretary) and Umar Bature (National Organising Secretary), or from the NWC and NEC, regarding the planned national convention in Ibadan, Oyo State, or any other location.
The plaintiffs additionally sought an order compelling all parties to maintain the status quo until their motion for interlocutory injunction is determined.
However, in his ruling, Justice Omotosho refused to grant the interim injunction, stating: “The motion ex parte for interim injunction is hereby refused.”
He directed the plaintiffs to serve all defendants—including the PDP and INEC—with their motion on notice for interlocutory injunction and warned all parties against taking actions that could undermine the court’s eventual ruling.
“All parties in this suit, upon being served with this order and the motion on notice for interlocutory injunction, must not take any step, decision, or act that will make the outcome of the reliefs in the motion nugatory,” the judge ruled. “Any step, decision, or act taken to make the outcome of a judicial process such as the motion on notice for interlocutory injunction nugatory shall be deemed to be a nullity.”
The matter has been adjourned to October 14, 2025, for the hearing of the motion on notice.
