PDP Crisis Deepens As Turaki Faction Moves To Stop Wike-Backed Convention At Supreme Court

PDP Crisis Deepens As Turaki Faction Asks Supreme Court To Stop March 29–30 Convention

The internal crisis in Nigeria’s Peoples Democratic Party has entered a more volatile phase, with the faction led by Kabiru Tanimu Turaki asking the Supreme Court to stop a rival national convention scheduled for March 29 and 30 in Abuja, a gathering backed by allies of Federal Capital Territory Minister Nyesom Wike. The application was filed on Friday, March 27, after the Turaki camp appealed a Court of Appeal judgment that had upheld the nullification of its own November 2025 convention in Ibadan.

At the center of the dispute is a direct request for injunctive relief. The Turaki-led bloc asked the apex court to restrain the respondents from “organizing, conducting, holding or in any way recognizing” the planned convention pending the hearing and determination of its appeal. Public reports of the court filing indicate the faction argues that allowing the Abuja convention to go ahead before the Supreme Court rules could worsen the leadership crisis and create further legal complications around party control. 

The immediate trigger for the latest move was the Court of Appeal judgment delivered earlier in March 2026. That ruling affirmed the earlier nullification of the Ibadan convention held by the Turaki faction in November 2025. Reporting on the judgment says the appellate court agreed that the convention failed key legal and procedural tests, including valid notice to the Independent National Electoral Commission and the conduct of valid congresses in enough states before the convention was held. 

That ruling was a major setback for Turaki’s camp because the Ibadan convention had been central to its claim to legitimacy. The now-voided gathering was the platform through which the faction sought to assert control of the party structure against the bloc aligned with Wike. With the Court of Appeal backing the lower court, the Turaki faction has now shifted the battle to the Supreme Court in a final attempt to preserve its position and, at minimum, stop the rival camp from consolidating power through a fresh convention. 

What makes the situation more politically significant is that reconciliation efforts were, at least publicly, still being discussed only days earlier. On March 25, Turaki said both factions had “broken the ice” and had begun reconciliation talks, suggesting there was still a pathway toward a negotiated settlement. But by March 27, that optimism had visibly collapsed, with reports indicating the party’s internal reconciliation had deadlocked and the Turaki camp had formally chosen the Supreme Court route instead. 

On the other side, Wike and the convention organizers have shown no sign of backing down. In several recent statements, Wike dismissed claims that the party remains divided in any legally meaningful sense and insisted the convention would hold as planned. He said nobody could stop the convention and framed the March 29–30 gathering as part of efforts to restore unity and move the party forward.

That position has been reinforced by the caretaker structure aligned with Wike. Reports from Friday say the Wike camp dismissed the Turaki-led National Working Committee as non-existent and insisted the planned convention remains valid despite the fresh Supreme Court filing. This hard line suggests the rival bloc believes the Court of Appeal judgment already shifted the legal balance in its favor and that any convention held now would rest on stronger judicial footing than the Ibadan convention that was struck down. 

There is also an important political subtext. The PDP’s long-running internal fracture is no longer just about competing interpretations of party procedure. It has become a struggle over who controls the opposition party’s national structure ahead of the 2027 election cycle. Recent reporting ties the Turaki faction to figures including Oyo State Governor Seyi Makinde and Bauchi State Governor Bala Mohammed, both of whom were reported to have backed the decision at a National Executive Committee meeting to ratify the Supreme Court appeal while also exploring reconciliation. 

That means the legal fight is doubling as a power contest among heavyweight political actors. Wike, although serving in the APC-led federal government as FCT minister, remains highly influential within the PDP’s surviving structure. His opponents within the party see the Abuja convention as an attempt to formalize control of the party machinery, while his supporters present it as a lawful reset after the courts invalidated the Ibadan process. 

Stone Reporters note that one unresolved issue is timing. As of Friday, March 27, public reporting confirmed the filing at the Supreme Court, but there was no widely reported indication that the court had already granted an interim order stopping the convention. That distinction is critical. Filing an appeal and seeking an injunction do not automatically halt the event. Unless the court acts quickly, the convention could still proceed before the substantive appeal is heard. 

Another layer of uncertainty is that different reports sometimes refer to the Turaki camp as “Kabiru Turaki-led” and elsewhere as “Tanimu Turaki-led,” but the reporting clearly refers to the same factional leadership bloc now contesting the appellate judgment and trying to stop the Abuja convention. 

The full picture, then, is of a party still deeply split, with reconciliation talks stalled, court battles escalating, and both camps acting as though they hold the stronger legal and political hand. The Turaki faction is asking the Supreme Court to freeze the next step in the rival camp’s consolidation plan. Wike’s faction is insisting the convention is lawful and unstoppable. The next decisive development will be whether the Supreme Court intervenes before March 29. If it does not, the PDP may head into its convention weekend with the crisis unresolved and the legitimacy battle likely to continue even after the meeting ends. 

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Reported by: Ijeoma G | Edited by: Jevaun Rhashan