The Peoples Democratic Party hurtled into deeper disorder on Friday. Court orders and a Board of Trustees reconciliation report collided. At the same time, the party’s Damagum-led National Working Committee decided to press ahead with the national convention in Ibadan.
The clash reveals an organisation at war with itself. It raises urgent questions about the rule of law and internal democracy. Additionally, it questions the PDP’s capacity to position itself as a credible national alternative.
A Federal High Court in Abuja delivered what supporters of party unity described as a decisive intervention. Justice Peter Odo Lifu granted a final order in a suit brought by former Jigawa State governor Sule Lamido.
The judge restrained the PDP from proceeding with the Ibadan convention scheduled for 15 and 16 November 2025. This restraint will stay until Lamido is allowed to buy a nomination form for the national chairmanship. The party must also follow its own constitution and guidelines.
The ruling also prohibited the Independent National Electoral Commission from supervising or aiding the convention until Lamido’s participation is secured. The order is unambiguous and, for many, legally binding.
Despite that judgment, the Damagum-led NWC and elements of the Governors Forum convened in Abuja. They reaffirmed that the convention would proceed.
The party’s Convention Organising Committee chairman, Governor Ahmadu Umaru Fintiri, publicly declared that the Ibadan event would go on as planned. He argued that the party’s organs had settled on the timetable. The party must show strength and unity.
That posture, nonetheless, has only hardened divisions and invited renewed litigation and protests by aggrieved factions.
Compounding the legal turbulence was the report of a six-member Board of Trustees Reconciliation Committee chaired by Ambassador Hassan Adamu. After a week of shuttle diplomacy, the panel recommended a cautious course.
Its principal proposals were the immediate reinstatement of suspended NWC members. They also included the constitution of an all-inclusive caretaker committee. Another proposal was a return to the constitutionally prescribed role of the BoT as an impartial arbiter. Additionally, there was a review of contentious constitutional amendments, including any effort to elevate the Governors Forum into a party organ.
The committee warned that proceeding with the convention under prevailing conditions would “fracture the party irreparably.” Those findings are grave and, if taken at face value, amount to an internal warning bell.
Reports from the party’s rank and file reveal sharp and growing distrust. The reconciliation panel recorded that governors and NWC members have ceased to trust one another.
Loyalty, it found, had been personalised. Job descriptions had been eroded. Litigation in multiple states was being mishandled, while 2027 succession scheming had skewed decision making.
In plain terms the panel described an organisation captured by factional ambition rather than governed by institutional process. Such findings explain why a significant part of the party hierarchy has urged pause and a reset.
The practical effect of the impasse is already visible. The Rivers State chapter announced a formal boycott of the Ibadan convention. They cited a breakdown in communication. There was unauthorised use of state names and photographs in convention literature. They also pointed out an absence of meaningful consultation with the national leadership.
The chapter reaffirmed its loyalty to Governor Siminalayi Fubara. Yet, it refused to join in the exercise. The chapter described the exercise as procedurally flawed and politically provocative.
Across other states there are reports of delegations either staying away or arriving with clear statements of conditional participation. The net effect is a convention with contested legitimacy before it even begins.
Two questions now demand urgent answers.
First, what is the legal status of a convention convened despite a clear Federal High Court order?
This order restrains the party until Lamido’s inclusion is secured. The PDP leadership has invoked a Supreme Court precedent on party autonomy and internal management.
Party autonomy is important. Still, it does not offer immunity from court orders. This is especially true where individual rights and party rules are asserted in court. That contradiction will doubtless land before appellate courts.
Second, can the PDP reconcile itself in time to present a united front for the 2027 cycle?
The reconciliation committee’s diagnosis is stark. It recommends a caretaker arrangement and a return to constitutional norms. Those are precise prescriptions aimed at restoring institutional integrity. Ignoring them in favour of a rushed elective convention is risky. It will harden splits that will damage the PDP’s organisational capacity and electoral prospects.
Politically, a convention perceived as exclusionary will hand the governing party an easy talking point. It will alienate voters seeking a credible opposition.
For pragmatic politicians and institutionalists inside and outside the PDP the remedy is clear. Respect the courts. Implement the BoT panel recommendations. Create an inclusive mechanism to adjudicate grievances before any national elective exercise moves ahead.
The alternative is protracted litigation. There will be parallel claimants to party offices and defections. This will lead to a drawn-out collapse of authority that will hand political advantage to opponents. The current moment demands legal prudence not political bravado.
Finally, leadership will matter. Governors, senior trustees and national officers face a decision. They must choose whether to prop up a fragile status quo. Alternatively, they can accept painful compromise for the sake of party survival.
The next 72 hours will be instructive. If the PDP chooses law and process it can still recover. If it privileges expediency, it risks a loss of coherence that takes years to repair.
Additional reporting by Osaigbovo Okungbowa, Peter Jene and Kalada Jumbo.
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