PDP leadership tussle: Turaki faction heads for Supreme Court

The faction of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, led by Kabiru Tanimu Turaki, SAN, has vowed to challenge the Court of Appeal judgment affirming the decision of the Federal High Court in the party’s leadership tussle.

The faction disclosed this in a statement issued on Wednesday by its National Publicity Secretary, Comrade Ini Ememobong, following the dismissal of an appeal filed by Senator Adolphus Wabara and seven others.

The appeal, marked CA/ABJ/CV/1221/2026, was filed against the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, and six others.

The appellants had sought an order setting aside the Federal High Court judgment, which refused to compel INEC to recognise the Interim National Working Committee led by Turaki, as constituted by the National Executive Committee meeting held after the Supreme Court judgment.

However, the three-member panel of the Court of Appeal, presided over by Justice Ugochukwu Anthony Ogakwu, with Justices Laja Balogun and Ruqayyat Oremei Ayoola, who read the judgment, upheld the decision of the lower court and dismissed the appeal.

Reacting to the ruling, the Turaki-led faction said it respected the court’s decision but would proceed to the Supreme Court in its quest for justice.

The statement said, “We have instructed our lawyers to immediately file an appeal before the Supreme Court, in the hope that justice will eventually be done.”

The faction maintained that the PDP must remain a strong opposition party capable of providing an alternative to the ruling party rather than becoming its appendage.

“The Peoples Democratic Party must, as an opposition party, offer an alternative to the ruling party, and not become an appendage of it. Democracy survives only when the opposition is strong enough to effectively engage the government,” the statement added.

It also urged its members to remain steadfast, expressing optimism that the Supreme Court would eventually deliver justice.

The faction said the outcome of the leadership crisis could have implications for the survival of multiparty democracy in Nigeria and future generations.