The Minister of the Federal Capital Territory and influential Peoples Democratic Party leader, Nyesom Wike, has accused Kabiru Tanimu Turaki and his allies of disregarding clear court rulings in the ongoing PDP leadership crisis. He said the faction has continued to act in open defiance of binding judgments on the party’s disputed convention and national executive.
Wike insisted that a series of court decisions, including those of the Federal High Court, Court of Appeal and Supreme Court, have already settled the questions around the legality of the PDP convention held in Ibadan and the leadership it produced. He accused the Turaki camp of twisting and misrepresenting the judgments to confuse party members and the public.
According to him, the Court of Appeal ruling delivered on March 9 upheld an earlier Federal High Court decision that the processes leading to the Ibadan convention of November 15–16 violated the Electoral Act, the Nigerian Constitution and the PDP Constitution. The appellate court nullified the convention’s outcome and declared the election of Turaki and other members of his National Working Committee legally invalid.
Wike said the subsequent Supreme Court verdict, which dismissed the rival faction’s appeal, further affirmed that position. He argued that claims by the Turaki group that the apex court favoured their side are false and amount to deliberate deception.
The minister berated the faction for going ahead to announce what he described as an “illegal caretaker arrangement” and for threatening to operate a parallel secretariat and party structures. He warned that, as FCT Minister, he would move to seal any office opened in Abuja in the PDP’s name by a group not recognised by the courts, in order to prevent a breach of the peace.
Wike accused Turaki, Oyo State Governor Seyi Makinde and their allies of engaging in “419 politics,” alleging that they are misleading supporters despite what he called judicial clarity on the matter. He urged them to respect court orders and stop creating confusion that could further weaken the party ahead of the 2027 elections.
Analysts note that Wike’s latest broadside highlights the deepening divisions within the PDP and the extent to which internal disputes have been taken to the courts. They warn that continued disregard or conflicting interpretations of court rulings risk damaging the party’s image and organisational readiness for future polls.
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