The camp of former Minister of Special Duties Tanimu Turaki (SAN) says the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has been left without a defined leadership following a split Supreme Court ruling, but expressed confidence that the party’s constitutional organs will step in to restore order.
Ini Ememobong, National Publicity Secretary of Turaki’s camp, said in a statement on Thursday that the Supreme Court’s 3–2 decision also upheld the Court of Appeal’s suspension of Kamaldeen Ajibade (SAN), Senator Samuel Anyanwu and others.
In the majority judgment, the apex court nullified the PDP national convention held in Ibadan on November 15–16 — the event that produced the Turaki-led leadership backed by Oyo State Governor Seyi Makinde — ruling that the convention was held in breach of subsisting court orders that required certain conditions to be met before it could proceed.
The majority, comprising Justices Chioma Nwosu-Iheme, Stephen Adah and Mohammed Garba, said the party disregarded a valid Federal High Court judgment and found the appellants in contempt, rendering them unable to be heard and leading to dismissal of the appeal.
The two dissenting justices, Haruna Tsammani and Abubakar Umar, held that the disputes arose from the internal affairs of the PDP and were therefore non-justiciable. They also criticised the majority for raising issues suo motu without giving the parties an opportunity to address them.
The Turaki camp said the split decision, together with the upheld suspensions, “effectively leaves the PDP as a party without a defined leadership.” The statement added: “We are certain that the existing organs of the party will take the necessary steps to salvage the party and confer leadership on it going forward. This leads the vehicle of our party towards a dangerous bend, which, if not carefully navigated, may not only affect the party but also multi‑party democracy in our country.”
