PDP Convention Crisis: Wike’s Faction Drags Party to Court Over Ibadan Meeting

By: Abudu Olalekan

If you’ve been keeping tabs on the PDP’s messy internal fights lately, this next move won’t feel out of the blue—but it’s a big one. The party faction aligned with FCT Minister Wike? They’re taking their battle to court, and they want the whole Ibadan convention erased like it never even happened.

Here’s the breakdown. The Wike-led group filed a suit at the Federal High Court in Abuja. The convention they’re targeting? It was held November 15 and 16 in Ibadan, Oyo State, run by the faction backing Governor Seyi Makinde. The suit’s number is FHC/ABJ/CS/250/2025, and the plaintiffs are the PDP itself, plus its Acting National Chairman Mohammed Abdulrahman and National Secretary Samuel Anyanwu.

What do they want, exactly? They’re begging the court to declare that convention—and every single thing decided there—null, void, and totally meaningless. They also want a court order stopping the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) from ever recognizing that event.

This isn’t the first legal tussle over this convention, though. Earlier on, some fed-up PDP members went to court too, saying holding the convention broke the party’s own rules, the Electoral Act, and other laws. Those folks included Imo PDP Chairman Austin Nwachukwu, Abia PDP Chairman Amah Abraham Nnanna, and South-South PDP Secretary Turnah Alabh George.

Back on October 31, 2025, Justice James Omotosho of the Abuja Federal High Court even ordered INEC not to recognize the convention. Then there was former Jigawa Governor Sule Lamido’s suit: he was blocked from buying a nomination form to run for national chairman, and Justice Peter Lifu said the convention couldn’t happen unless Lamido got to get that form.

But here’s the thing. An Oyo State High Court judge, Justice A. L. Akintola, issued an interim order letting the convention go ahead as planned. And despite those conflicting rulings? The event still happened. It had heavy security, too. And during it? Anyanwu, Wike, former Ekiti Governor Ayo Fayose, and eight more people got kicked out of the party.

Now, this new suit—dated November 21—lists 18 defendants. That’s INEC, the Inspector-General of Police, the FCT Commissioner of Police, the State Security Service, and a bunch of other PDP officials. The plaintiffs say the convention was done “in flagrant disregard” of three existing Federal High Court orders. They don’t just want it nullified, either. They want the court to stop anyone from recognizing the new officers picked there, get them back into the party’s offices at Wadata Plaza and Legacy House, and make security agencies follow those earlier court judgments.

They also want the court to answer one big question: can anyone legally recognize that Ibadan convention, when you look at the Constitution, the Electoral Act, and the PDP’s own constitution?

Right now, the suit hasn’t been given to a judge yet. There’s no hearing date set, either. It’s just sitting there, waiting for the next step in this messy, drawn-out fight that’s been dragging the party in two directions for months.

If you want to follow this as it unfolds, you can check Reportersroom’s latest updates at reportersroom.com/pdp-convention-suit. It’s the kind of fight that doesn’t just stay inside party walls—how it ends could shake up the PDP for a long time to come.