A Federal High Court in Abuja has blocked the Kabiru Turaki-led faction of the Peoples Democratic Party from accessing the party’s national headquarters.
Justice Joyce Abdulmalik delivered the ruling on Monday, March 30, in favour of PDP members aligned with Federal Capital Territory Minister Nyesom Wike.
The judge ordered security agencies, including the Nigeria Police Force and the Department of State Services, to ensure the Wike faction has unhindered access to the Wadata Plaza secretariat in Wuse Zone 5.
Justice Abdulmalik declared that the national convention held in Ibadan on November 15 and 16, 2025, which produced the Turaki leadership, violated existing court orders and was therefore invalid.
She ruled that the exercise breached Section 287(3) of the 1999 Constitution and the party’s own constitution.
The judge took strong exception to the expulsion of Wike and his supporters during the convention.
“I considered the expulsion of the members of the plaintiffs as not only an affront to the subsisting judgement, but also a direct assault on a democratic and principled society,” she said.
“All proceedings, resolutions and decisions taken at the said convention, including the suspension of members of the first plaintiff, were unconstitutional, unlawful, null and void, and of no effect.”
The Wike faction, led by then acting national chairman Abdulrahman Mohammed and national secretary Samuel Anyanwu, had filed the suit seeking to prevent the Turaki group from representing the party.
They also asked the court to stop INEC from recognising any office address submitted by the rival faction.
During the proceedings, the Turaki group challenged an interim order issued by Justice Abdulmalik at the Court of Appeal. They also sought a stay of proceedings and asked the judge to withdraw from the case, citing bias.
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Justice Abdulmalik rejected the recusal application, noting that the defendants failed to provide evidence to support their claims.
She stated that allegations of bias are “a state of mind, incapable of precise definition” and require “cogent and credible evidence” to stand.
“I found no shred of evidence to justify the allegation,” she said, adding that granting an ex parte order does not constitute bias.
She also dismissed the request to transfer the case to the chief judge, stating that case assignment is not a matter for lawyers to decide.
On the main issue, Justice Abdulmalik held that the Turaki faction proceeded with the Ibadan convention despite valid court orders prohibiting such action.
“In spite of the judgements which have not been set aside, the 5th to 25th defendants went ahead and organised the convention,” she said.
She noted that these judgments had also been upheld by the Court of Appeal.
“The purported convention, including the election of officers and suspension of members, is unconstitutional, null and void,” she declared.
The court instructed security agencies to protect the Wike faction’s access to party facilities and barred the Turaki group from entering, using, or holding events at the secretariat.
INEC was also directed not to accept any address for the party other than what already exists in its records.
The ruling represents a significant victory for the Wike faction in the protracted battle for control of Nigeria’s main opposition party.