A fresh chapter has opened in the Peoples Democratic Party’s (PDP) protracted leadership crisis after the faction led by Kabiru Turaki pledged to challenge a Federal High Court ruling that dismissed its bid for judicial recognition as the party’s interim leadership.
The decision follows Friday’s judgment by Justice Salim Ibrahim of the Federal High Court in Abuja, who struck out a suit brought by the Adolphus Wabara-led Board of Trustees and a group of founding members seeking, among other reliefs, formal recognition of the Turaki-led Interim National Working Committee.
The court upheld a preliminary objection raised by the defendants, ruling that the dispute centred on the internal leadership of a political party and therefore fell outside the court’s jurisdiction.
The judgment represents a setback for the Turaki faction, which has argued that its interim leadership was validly constituted amid the PDP’s prolonged internal divisions.
Responding to the ruling, the faction signalled that it would immediately take the matter to the Court of Appeal, insisting that the trial court’s reasoning conflicted with established judicial precedents.
In a statement issued by its National Publicity Secretary, Ini Ememobong, the faction said it respected the court’s decision but rejected its conclusion that the dispute was non-justiciable.
“While we respect the judgment of the trial court, we respectfully consider that it is against the extant judgments of the appeal and apex courts, leaving the plaintiffs with no option but to appeal the judgment and the rulings therein,” the statement said.
It added that legal representatives had already been instructed to begin the appeal process without delay.
The faction maintained that the litigation was about more than the leadership of a single political party, framing it instead as a test of democratic accountability and the future of opposition politics in Nigeria.
“We are hopeful that as we climb the ladder of the law upwards, the victory of truth over lies, principles over compromise and the survival of true opposition and multi-party democracy will be assured,” Ememobong said.
“The politics of power, money and greed may last for a while, but we are certain that though our victory may be postponed, as the struggle continues, we will eventually attain it.”
The appeal is likely to prolong the legal uncertainty surrounding the PDP, whose internal disputes over leadership and party structure have fuelled factional tensions at a time when Nigeria’s main opposition party is attempting to rebuild ahead of future electoral contests.
