Nyesom Wike, minister of the Federal Capital Territory, has said the appeal filed by the Kabiru Turaki-led faction of the Peoples Democratic Party will not stop the party’s planned national convention in Abuja. The convention is scheduled for March 29 and 30, according to reports on Saturday.
The latest dispute followed a move by the Turaki camp to ask the Supreme Court to restrain the Wike-backed faction from proceeding with the convention. The appeal, filed on Friday, also challenged the Court of Appeal judgment that upheld the nullification of the PDP convention held in Ibadan in November 2025.
The internal crisis has its roots in the rival claims to the party’s leadership that emerged after the Ibadan convention produced Turaki as chairman of one faction. The Wike camp did not take part in that gathering and later moved to set up a parallel national working committee, board of trustees and national executive committee.
On March 9, the Court of Appeal in Abuja affirmed an earlier federal high court ruling that restrained the conduct of the Ibadan convention. The court held that the organisers breached procedures set by the Independent National Electoral Commission for such an exercise.
Speaking after inspecting the convention venue in Abuja on Friday night, Wike said the appeal would not stop the event and maintained that the gathering would go ahead as planned. His position signals that the party’s rival blocs remain on a collision course despite ongoing legal battles and previous settlement talks in a separate appeal process in Ibadan.
The dispute adds to the uncertainty around the PDP’s internal reorganisation ahead of future electoral activities, with the courts and the party’s factions still locked in a struggle over legitimacy, procedure and control of the party structure. That uncertainty has grown even as one appellate court previously urged the factions to pursue an amicable settlement.
