A chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Umar Sani, has strongly condemned a recent Federal High Court ruling in Ibadan that nullified the party's National Convention held in the city on November 15-16, 2025.
In a statement posted on his verified X handle on Tuesday, February 3, 2026, Sani described the judgment, delivered by Justice Uche Agomoh, as an abuse of power and clear judicial overreach.
He argued that the ruling ventured far beyond the specific issues presented to the court, raising serious legal and institutional concerns about the independence of the judiciary.
According to Sani, the suit before the court was narrowly focused: it sought an order of mandamus to compel the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to list the leadership elected at the Ibadan convention (led by Kabiru Tanimu Turaki as National Chairman) on its portal.
No counter-claims, ancillary reliefs, or requests to restructure the party's leadership were before the court.He emphasized that the judgment improperly addressed matters not joined by the parties, including the status of a National Caretaker Committee that had not even been constituted when the suit was filed or argued.
Sani further highlighted that the suit itself appeared to be an abuse of court process. He noted that the applicants had previously approached Justice Joyce Abdulmalik with identical reliefs, received an unfavorable outcome, and filed an appeal.
Instead of pursuing the appeal, they allegedly filed the same claims in another court of coordinate jurisdiction.
"The judgment delivered by Justice Uche Agomoh of the Federal High Court, Ibadan, has raised serious legal and institutional questions that go beyond the immediate dispute within the PDP," Sani stated.
"The ruling exposes deeper concerns about the growing perception that the Federal High Court has become vulnerable to extraneous influences."
The Federal High Court in Ibadan nullified the convention, holding that it was conducted in flagrant disobedience to two subsisting judgments of the same court.
The ruling also barred Turaki and other elected officials from parading themselves as national officers of the PDP.
It affirmed the Caretaker Committee (aligned with figures such as Mohammed Abdulrahman and Senator Samuel Anyanwu) as the only recognized National Working Committee pending a valid convention.
The decision deepens the ongoing leadership crisis in the PDP, which has seen factional divisions since the controversial Ibadan convention amid broader internal disputes involving key figures like former Rivers State Governor Nyesom Wike.
Sani's reaction aligns with statements from the Turaki-led faction, which has downplayed the ruling's impact and expressed confidence in appellate courts overturning it, insisting the party's leadership remains intact.
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