Supreme Court Fixes Date To Hear PDP Leadership Appeals

The Supreme Court of Nigeria has fixed April 22, 2026, to hear two appeals filed by a faction of the Peoples Democratic Party led by Kabiru Turaki over the party’s leadership dispute.

.....

Naija News reports that the cases are linked to the controversy surrounding the party’s national convention held in Ibadan on November 15 and 16, 2025, which had earlier been nullified by the Court of Appeal.

A five-member panel of the apex court, headed by Lawal Garba, approved a request by the Turaki group for a faster hearing. The court also reduced the time allowed for parties to file their legal arguments so the matter can be decided quickly.

During proceedings, the court directed that hearing notices be served on one of the respondents, Mohammed Abdulrahman, who was not represented in court.

Lawyer to the Turaki faction, Chris Uche, told the court that the case needed urgent attention. He explained that the issue should be resolved in line with the timetable set by the Independent National Electoral Commission ahead of the 2027 general elections. He also submitted documents to show the urgency of the case.

Another lawyer in the matter, Emmanuel Ukala, who is representing some of the respondents, asked for more time to respond. He said he needed to obtain records from the appellate court’s decision that voided the Ibadan convention. The Supreme Court, however, ordered all respondents to file their responses within five days.

In a separate but related appeal involving the Turaki group and Sule Lamido, the court also granted a speedy hearing and fixed the same date, April 22, for the case.

The dispute with Lamido started after he was excluded from the race for the party’s national chairmanship. His suit led to an order by Peter Lifu of the Federal High Court, which stopped the convention from going ahead.

Earlier rulings by lower courts had gone against the Turaki-led leadership. The decisions nullified the Ibadan convention, stopped the electoral body from accepting its outcome, and, in some cases, limited access to the party’s national secretariat.

The Turaki group is now asking the Supreme Court to overturn those rulings. The faction maintained that the matter is an internal party issue and insists that proper procedures were followed during the convention.