Court Bars Turaki-Led PDP Faction From Accessing Party Secretariat In Abuja

Justice Joyce Abdulmalik, who presided over the matter on Monday, issued the order while delivering judgment in a suit instituted by PDP members aligned with Nyesom Wike, the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).

The Federal High Court in Abuja has barred a faction of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) led by Kabiru Turaki from accessing the party’s national secretariat, in a ruling that further deepens the crisis rocking Nigeria’s main opposition party.

The court held that the Turaki-led faction must stay away from the PDP national headquarters pending the resolution of the dispute over the party’s leadership structure.

The ruling effectively consolidates the control of the party secretariat in the hands of the Wike-backed camp, which has been locked in a prolonged power struggle with other factions over the direction and leadership of the party.

The suit, filed by pro-Wike members of the PDP, sought the intervention of the court to restrain Turaki and his loyalists from parading themselves as leaders or attempting to take control of party offices at the national level.

Justice Abdulmalik, in her decision, granted the reliefs sought by the plaintiffs, ruling that allowing multiple factions to lay claim to the party’s headquarters would worsen instability and undermine internal order within the PDP.

SaharaReporters earlier reported that the PDP escalated its internal leadership crisis to the Supreme Court, declaring that the apex court would ultimately determine the legitimacy of its leadership amid deepening factional disputes.

In a press statement issued on Monday by its National Publicity Secretary, Comrade Ini Ememobong, the opposition party had said it had filed an appeal and accompanying applications before the Supreme Court to resolve all issues surrounding the party’s leadership and what constitutes its internal affairs.

The PDP had said the move followed “disturbing activities” within the last 48 hours, which have raised concerns among members nationwide about the future of the party and Nigeria’s democracy.

According to the statement, the party expressed confidence that the Supreme Court would “expeditiously hear and adjudicate” on the matter in the interest of democracy.

“To them, and other fair-minded, democracy-loving Nigerians, we reassure that we have taken this battle to the Supreme Court for the determination of all the issues relating to the leadership of our party, particularly as it relates to what constitutes an internal affair.

“With this appeal and the relevant concomitant applications filed and served on all the parties involved, we are hopeful that sooner, rather than later, the apex court will, in the interest of democracy, expeditiously hear and adjudicate on this matter.”