EXCLUSIVE: Court declines Wike associates’ bid to stop PDP convention

A federal high court in Abuja has declined to grant an interim order stopping the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) from holding its planned meetings and national convention.

In a ruling delivered on Thursday, James Omotosho, the presiding judge, refused the plaintiffs’ ex parte application seeking interim injunctions to restrain the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and the PDP from proceeding with the party’s scheduled leadership meetings and convention.

The suit, marked FHC/ABJ/CS/2120/2025, was filed by Austine Nwachukwu, PDP chairman in Imo state; Amah Abraham Nnanna, chairman of the Abia state chapter; and Turnah George, the south-south secretary of the party.

The plaintiffs are believed to be allies of Nyesom Wike, minister of the federal capital territory (FCT), who has been opposing the planned PDP national convention.

In June, Wike met with some members of the PDP from south-south and south-east in a bid to stop the planned national convention that was initially fixed to be held on August 28.

At the meeting, the FCT was proposing a new date for October to allow enough time to strategise.

Wike, though a PDP member, is believed to be holding down the opposition party to boost President Bola Tinubu’s re-election chances in 2027.

In the suit, the plaintiffs asked the court to compel the INEC to ensure that the PDP does “not hold any meetings, congresses, or conventions unless proper notice has been given and a democratic process/platform has been put in place to conduct such gatherings”.

In particular, they are asking that the party’s national executive committee (NEC) meeting scheduled for October 18 and the national convention scheduled for November 15–16 be stopped or restrained until the main application is heard and determined.

The plaintiffs also prayed the court “to bar INEC from monitoring or taking part in any PDP leadership meetings, including its planned NEC, caucus, or NWC meetings, slated for October 15, or any later date,” until their substantive application for injunction is determined.

They also asked the court “to restrain INEC from receiving, accepting, or acting upon any 21-day statutory notice from the PDP or its officials—specifically Samuel Anyanwu, national secretary; Umar Bature, national organising secretary; the national working committee (NWC); or the national executive committee (NEC)—for the purpose of conducting the PDP’s national convention on November 15 and 16, 2025, where principal officers and members of its executive committee are to be elected”.

In addition to their request, the plaintiffs sought “to restrain the PDP and its key officials from holding any leadership or decision-making meetings, including the planned NEC and caucus meetings fixed for October 15, 2025, or conducting the national convention scheduled for November 15 and 16, 2025, in Ibadan, Oyo State, or anywhere else, until their main application is heard”.

They asked the court to order all parties to maintain the status quo and refrain from taking any steps that could affect the pending application for interlocutory injunction.

However, in his ruling, the judge declined the request to grant the ex parte order.

“The motion ex parte for interim injunction is hereby refused,” he ruled.

He ordered the plaintiffs to serve all the defendants with their motion on notice for interlocutory injunction.

The judge added that all parties should avoid any step or decision that could nullify 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 said.

“​​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 was adjourned to October 14 for hearing the motion on notice for an interlocutory injunction.