ABUJA/Nigeria: Fresh turmoil erupted within the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) on Thursday following the release of the Certified True Copy (CTC) of the Supreme Court judgment dismissing the cross-appeal filed by former National Secretary, Samuel Anyanwu, and others, a development that has now triggered a dramatic leadership shift within the opposition party.
The apex court’s decision, delivered by a five-member panel of justices, has been interpreted by party stakeholders as a final judicial affirmation that the suspension of Anyanwu and other affected officials remains valid and binding. The judgment has also strengthened the authority of the Interim National Working Committee (iNWC), which has formally assumed administrative leadership of the PDP following the crisis that engulfed the party’s national structure.
Political observers say the judgment effectively brought to an end months of fierce legal and political battles over the control of the PDP, while simultaneously invalidating actions taken by the faction loyal to the embattled former leadership.
The Supreme Court, in its judgment delivered in Abuja by Justice Stephen Jonah Adah, JSC, not only dismissed the PDP’s substantive appeal but also threw out the cross-appeal filed by Samuel Anyanwu and others. Pages 34, 81, 98, 101, and 130 to 139 of the Certified True Copy of the judgment reportedly reflected the unanimous dismissal of the cross-appeal by all five justices of the apex court.
Party sources aligned with the Interim National Working Committee immediately declared that the verdict had extinguished what they described as “an illegitimate era” within the PDP leadership hierarchy.
According to the sources, the legal implication of the judgment is that any action, appointment, directive, or communiqué issued by suspended officials during the pendency of their suspension cannot stand in the eyes of the law.
The development has equally cast serious legal uncertainty around the controversial PDP National Convention reportedly held on March 29, 2026, in Abuja. Party insiders opposed to the exercise insisted on Thursday that the convention was fundamentally defective because it was allegedly convened by individuals who lacked the legal authority and constitutional standing to administer the affairs of the party.
They argued that since the conveners were under suspension and their cross-appeal had now been dismissed by the Supreme Court, the entire March 29 convention amounted to a nullity ab initio.
The Interim National Working Committee, constituted by the PDP National Executive Committee (NEC) during its 103rd meeting under the leadership of Senator Adolphus Wabara, has consequently moved to fully assume control of the party’s administration.
The iNWC, chaired by Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Kabiru Tanimu Turaki, was established to prevent a leadership vacuum and stabilize the party amid the prolonged internal crisis rocking the PDP.
Party officials loyal to the interim leadership maintained that the committee derives its legitimacy from the provisions of the PDP Constitution (2017 as amended) and would oversee efforts aimed at restoring constitutional order, internal discipline, and party unity.
The broader Supreme Court judgment arose from a suit filed by former Jigawa State Governor and PDP stalwart, Alhaji Sule Lamido, who challenged the refusal of the PDP to sell him nomination forms to contest for the office of National Chairman during the party’s National Convention scheduled for November 15 and 16, 2025, in Ibadan, Oyo State.
Lamido had argued that despite being a duly registered and financially up-to-date member of the party, he was unlawfully denied the opportunity to participate in the contest in violation of the PDP Constitution, party guidelines, and provisions of the Electoral Act.
The Federal High Court had earlier ordered the PDP to make nomination forms available to him and restrained the party from proceeding with the convention pending compliance with the court’s directives. However, despite the subsisting court order, the PDP proceeded with the convention after securing what the Supreme Court later described as an order from a court of coordinate jurisdiction.
In a strongly worded judgment, the Supreme Court condemned the action of the party, declaring that no political organization or litigant has the discretion to choose which court orders to obey.
“Court orders, whether rightly or wrongly made, must be obeyed until set aside,” the apex court declared while warning against growing acts of forum shopping, judicial manipulation, and contemptuous disregard for the authority of the courts.
The court further held that the National Convention conducted by the PDP on November 15 and 16, 2025, while the restraining order subsisted, was null, void, and of no legal consequence whatsoever.
The apex court reaffirmed that although internal affairs of political parties are generally non-justiciable, courts retain the power to intervene where political parties violate their constitutions, breach the Electoral Act, or undermine the principles of internal democracy guaranteed under Nigerian law.
Justice Haruna Simon Tsammani, JSC, however delivered a dissenting judgment, maintaining that the dispute remained an internal party affair outside the jurisdiction of the Federal High Court.
Despite the dissent, the majority judgment has continued to generate intense political reactions across the country, with legal analysts describing the ruling as a major judicial pronouncement capable of reshaping the future leadership structure of the PDP and redefining the limits of internal party administration in Nigeria’s democratic system.
