PDP disaster: Court docket units January 23 for listening to of Turaki faction’s movement

The Federal Excessive Court docket in Abuja has mounted January twenty third 2025, for the listening to of an utility for keep of additional proceedings filed by the Kabiru Turaki-led Peoples Democratic Party, in opposition to a go well with instituted by the faction aligned with the FCT Minister, Nyesom Wike.

Justice Joyce Abdulmalik adjourned the matter on Wednesday to allow counsel for the plaintiffs, Onyechi Ikpeazu, reply to the keep utility.

The Wike-led PDP, by way of its appearing Nationwide Chairman, Mohammed Abdulrahman and factional Nationwide Secretary, Samuel Anyanwu, had filed the go well with marked FHC/ABJ/CS/2501/2025.

They’re searching for an order restraining the Turaki-led management, listed as fifth to twenty fifth defendants, from parading themselves as representatives of the PDP and stopping the police and the Division of State Companies from permitting them entry to the celebration’s nationwide secretariat at Wadata Plaza, Abuja.

The plaintiffs additionally requested the court docket to restrain the Unbiased Nationwide Electoral Fee from accepting any workplace tackle from the Turaki faction apart from the one already in its information, and to declare that INEC, the police and the DSS are sure to implement earlier judgments and rulings delivered by Justices James Omotosho and Peter Lifu.

Justice Abdulmalik had earlier granted an ex-parte order directing events to not take any step pending the dedication of the go well with.

The Turaki-led PDP appealed the choice and filed a movement for keep of proceedings, in addition to a movement on discover asking the choose to recuse herself on grounds of alleged bias.

When the case got here up on Wednesday, Ikpeazu stated the court docket had earlier dominated that every one pending functions could be taken along with the substantive go well with and that the plaintiffs have been able to proceed.

However counsel to the Turaki faction, Chief Chris Uche, stated they’d filed an attraction in opposition to the ex-parte order, which had been entered on the Court docket of Appeal as CA/ABJ/CV/1770/2025.

“We filed an attraction in opposition to my lord’s determination and we’ve an obligation to report back to your lordship that that attraction has now been entered within the Court docket of Appeal numbered: CA/ABJ/CV/1770/2025.

“We’ve got additionally filed an affidavit of information of getting into the attraction as a way to convey to your information the entry of the attraction.

“Information have been totally transmitted and the plaintiffs are very a lot conscious and have taken steps to file processes within the attraction,” he stated.

Uche argued that when an attraction has been entered, the trial court docket ought to stop additional proceedings, citing Secondus vs. Ibaochi Alex, and urged the court docket to remain proceedings and adjourn the matter sine die.

Ikpeazu countered that an attraction doesn’t robotically translate to a keep.

“By advantage of Order 4, Guidelines 11(2) of the Court docket of Appeal guidelines, Sub. 1 gives for a foundation for the applying they’ve simply made however Sub. 2 limits the scope of the Sub. 1,” he stated, including that the attraction was in opposition to an interlocutory determination.

“The underside line is the attraction is in opposition to the interlocutory determination of my lord,” he stated.

Justice Abdulmalik requested if he had been served with the keep movement.

“We have been served very late yesterday, my lord,” Ikpeazu replied.

The choose directed him to file a proper response and adjourned the case to January twenty third for the listening to of the keep utility.

Within the recusal movement, Uche urged the choose to withdraw from the case and remit the file to the Chief Choose for reassignment, arguing that the defendants had petitioned the Chief Choose in opposition to assigning PDP inside dispute instances to Justice Abdulmalik and two different judges as a result of perceived partisanship.

He alleged that though the go well with was filed on Nov. 21, 2025, the choose made an ex-parte order on Nov. 25 “in a format and template that was curious and in alliance with the format and template utilised by Hon. Justice Omotosho of the identical court docket in opposition to the defendants,” including that the orders have been made with out actual urgency and touched on the substance of the go well with.

Talking with pressmen after the listening to, the Nationwide Publicity Secretary of the PDP Nationwide Working Caretaker Committee, Jungudo Mohammed, expressed hopes that the court docket will grant the plaintiffs’ request, on the grounds of two earlier judgments of the Federal Excessive Court docket.

“As you might be conscious, beforehand, there have been two ultimate judgments of the federal excessive court docket stopping any deliberate conference in Oyo. Sadly, some recalcitrant members of the celebration went forward and performed that conference.

“The primary substantive problem right here is that we’re praying the court docket to limit these individuals parading themselves as nationwide officers of the celebration.

“And, you understand, on the energy of the 2 earlier federal excessive court docket judgments, I truly don’t wish to preempt what the court docket will say, however your guess is pretty much as good as mine,” he stated.