The Court of Appeal, Abuja Division, will on Thursday take a major step towards resolving the protracted leadership crisis rocking the Peoples Democratic Party by adopting harmonised briefs filed by parties in the dispute.
This followed the sitting of the court today in Abuja.
Sighted at the court were leaders of the party, led by the governors-backed national chairman, Tanimu Turaki (SAN) and members of the National Working Committee, Governors Bala Mohammed (Bauchi), Seyi Makinde (Oyo), among many other chieftains.
The faction is seeking authenticity, following the ruling of the Federal High Court in Ibadan, Oyo State, which nullified the November 2025 convention that brought the Turaki-led NWC into office.
The move to harmonise the appeals is expected to clear the path for a definitive judgment in the internal wrangling that has fractured the former ruling party into rival camps and weakened its cohesion since the 2023 general election.
The appellate court will harmonise appeals arising from three conflicting judgments delivered by different divisions of the Federal High Court.
Two of the judgments were given by Justices Peter Lifu and James Omotosho of the Abuja Division, while the third was delivered by Justice Uche of the Ibadan Division.
In the Abuja rulings, the court barred the faction led by former Jigawa State governor, Taminu Turaki, from holding the PDP’s national convention in Ibadan in November last year.
The courts held that the processes leading to the planned convention violated extant party guidelines and subsisting court orders.
However, in a separate judgment delivered in Ibadan, Justice Uche went further to nullify the convention after it was held, declaring it invalid, and restraining officials elected at the gathering from parading themselves as national officers of the party.
The conflicting rulings deepened the leadership crisis within the PDP, with rival factions laying claim to the party’s national leadership and secretariat.
