Supreme Court Fixes April 22 for PDP Leadership Showdown as Turaki Faction Gets Accelerated Hearing

Nigeria’s Supreme Court will hear two appeals from the Kabiru Turaki-led faction of the Peoples Democratic Party on April 22, fast-tracking a leadership fight that could decide who controls the main opposition party going into the 2027 elections.

A five-member panel led by Justice Mohammed Garba granted the application for accelerated hearing on Tuesday after Chris Uche (SAN), counsel to the Turaki faction, argued that INEC’s candidate submission window opens April 23, making this time-sensitive.

The court ordered all nine respondents to file their briefs within five days. The appellants get two days to file reply briefs if needed. Everything must be filed by April 21.

Two appeals, one deadline

The first appeal is the Turaki-led National Working Committee against the faction loyal to FCT Minister Nyesom Wike. The second involves former Jigawa State Governor Sule Lamido, who sued the party after being blocked from buying the chairmanship nomination form.

Emmanuel Ukala (SAN), representing the Wike faction, did not oppose the accelerated hearing but asked for 15 days to respond. INEC’s counsel wanted 10 days. The court gave them five instead.

How the PDP got here

This mess started in October 2025 when the Federal High Court in Abuja stopped a PDP faction led by Oyo Governor Seyi Makinde and Bauchi Governor Bala Mohammed from holding its planned Ibadan convention. Justice James Omotosho ruled that the party had skipped valid state congresses, violating its own constitution and INEC guidelines.

In November 2025, Justice Peter Lifu issued a final order blocking the convention altogether, finding that Lamido was “unjustly denied” the chance to even get a nomination form for national chairman. The PDP NWC went ahead with the convention anyway.

The Ibadan convention produced Turaki as national chairman. The Wike faction sat it out and built a parallel NWC, Board of Trustees, and National Executive Committee instead. That faction later held its own convention in Abuja and got a High Court judgment granting it access to the PDP national secretariat.

On March 9, 2026, the Court of Appeal affirmed the Federal High Court rulings that had restrained the Ibadan convention, dismissing the Turaki faction’s jurisdiction challenge.

What is at stake on April 22

INEC’s candidate submission window opens April 23, the day after the hearing. Whichever faction the Supreme Court recognises as legitimate will control the party’s machinery and candidate nominations for 2027. The Turaki faction argues this is an internal party matter that courts should not be deciding. The lower courts disagreed.

The PDP, in a statement on its official page, asked members to stay calm and expressed hope that the court would uphold democratic principles.

Sources: Channels TV, TheCable, Daily Post, Premium Times, Punch