The Court of Appeal in Abuja has fixed Friday, October 2, 2026, for hearing in the legal battle between the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Board of Trustees (BoT) led by Senator Adolphus Wabara and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) over recognition of the party’s interim leadership.
The case is an appeal arising from the July 17 judgment of the Federal High Court in Abuja, which dismissed the Wabara-led BoT’s suit seeking to compel INEC to recognise and publish the names of the Tanimu Turaki-led interim National Working Committee (NWC).
Justice Salim Ibrahim of the Federal High Court had ruled that the plaintiffs lacked the legal standing to institute the action and failed to establish that INEC was under a subsisting legal obligation to recognise the Turaki-led NWC.
The court also held that the plaintiffs did not establish that INEC had previously recognised the interim NWC or that any existing court order specifically compelled the electoral commission to recognise it.
The Wabara-led BoT had approached the Federal High Court after the Supreme Court’s April 2026 judgment invalidated the PDP’s November 2025 national convention in Ibadan, which produced Turaki and other national officers.
Following the Supreme Court judgment, Wabara announced that the BoT was assuming responsibility for the party’s national leadership and moved to establish an interim NWC to administer the party pending a fresh leadership arrangement.
The BoT subsequently asked INEC to update its records and recognise the Turaki-led interim structure. It argued that the electoral commission was constitutionally required to give effect to subsisting judicial decisions.
However, the Federal High Court rejected that position and dismissed the case.
The dispute is rooted in the PDP’s prolonged leadership crisis, which intensified after the Court of Appeal in March 2026 upheld the nullification of the November 2025 Ibadan convention and barred INEC from recognising its outcome, including Turaki’s leadership.
The Supreme Court subsequently upheld the nullification of the Ibadan convention in April, further deepening the dispute over which faction has authority to speak for the party.
The rival faction led by Abdulrahman Mohammed, which is aligned with FCT Minister Nyesom Wike, has maintained that it constitutes the legitimate leadership of the PDP. The Federal High Court’s July judgment affirmed that faction’s position in the particular suit brought by the Wabara-led BoT.
The October 2 proceedings will therefore provide another opportunity for the appellate court to consider the legal issues arising from the Federal High Court judgment.
The outcome could have significant implications for the PDP’s internal administration and its preparations for the 2027 general elections, particularly over which leadership structure can officially deal with INEC.
