The Supreme Court has fixed April 22 to hear two separate appeals filed by the Kabiru Turaki-led faction of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
The faction is seeking to overturn the Court of Appeal’s decision invalidating the Ibadan, Oyo State national convention held on November 15-16, 2025.
A five-member panel of the apex court, led by Justice Lawal Garba, granted the Turaki faction’s application for accelerated hearing and departure from the rules to abridge the time for filing briefs of argument.
In the first appeal, filed by the Turaki-led group against the PDP faction loyal to the Federal Capital Territory Minister, Nyesom Wike, the court ordered that hearing notices be served on Mohammed Abdulrahman, the seventh respondent, who was not represented when the matter came up on Tuesday.
At the proceedings, Chris Uche (SAN), counsel to the Turaki faction, informed the court of the pending applications, stressing the need for urgency to align with the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) timetable ahead of the 2027 general elections.
He also filed an affidavit of extreme urgency.
Counsel to Austin Nwachukwu and two others, Emmanuel Ukala (SAN), requested 15 days to file his reply, citing the need to obtain relevant court records from the Court of Appeal’s decision nullifying the Ibadan convention.
The supreme court, however, directed all nine respondents to file their replies within five days each and fixed April 22, 2026, for the hearing of the appeal.
In the second appeal, involving the Turaki-led faction against a former governor of Jigawa State, Sule Lamido and others, the apex court also granted accelerated hearing and abridgement of time, and fixed April 22 for hearing.
Mr Lamido sued over his exclusion from the national chairmanship contest, which led to Justice Peter Lifu of the Federal High Court issuing orders halting the convention.
The lower courts (Federal High Court and Court of Appeal) have largely ruled against the Turaki faction, nullifying the Ibadan convention, barring INEC from recognising its outcomes, and restricting access to the national secretariat in some rulings.
The Turaki group has appealed to the apex court, arguing that the matter borders on internal party affairs, which are not justiciable, and that due procedures were followed.
(NAN)
