JUST IN: PDP BoT Takes Over Party Leadership After Supreme Court Verdict

 

 

 

By OGB Joseph, Abuja 

 

 

The crisis rocking the opposition Peoples Democratic Party took a dramatic turn on Thursday as the party’s Board of Trustees (BoT) officially assumed control of the party’s national leadership following a Supreme Court judgment that invalidated key organs of the party.

 

 

In a press statement signed by BoT Chairman, Adolphus Wabara, the BoT announced that it was stepping in to prevent a leadership vacuum after the apex court nullified the PDP’s November 2025 national convention held in Ibadan, Oyo State.

 

 

 

The convention had produced the Kabiru Tanimu Turaki-led National Working Committee (NWC), which the Supreme Court declared invalid.

 

 

The court also upheld the suspension of Samuel Anyanwu, Umar Bature and Kamaldeen Ajibade from the party.

 

 

According to the BoT, the judgment automatically rendered illegal all actions taken by the suspended officials, including the appointment of Abdulrahman Mohammed as Acting National Chairman, the composition of the National Caretaker Working Committee, and the outcome of the March 29, 2026 convention held in Abuja.

 

 

The development has effectively dissolved both the Abdulrahman Mohammed-led caretaker structure and the Kabiru Turaki-led NWC, leaving the BoT as the highest functioning organ of the party under Section 32(5) of the PDP Constitution.

 

 

Wabara said the BoT’s intervention was aimed at stabilizing the party, fostering reconciliation among aggrieved members and repositioning the PDP ahead of the 2027 general elections.

 

 

“As the second highest organ of the party, the BoT has assumed responsibility for the national leadership of the PDP to prevent further chaos and restore political stability within the party,” the statement said.

 

 

The BoT also disclosed plans to convene an emergency meeting of the National Executive Committee (NEC) to appoint an Interim National Working Committee that would oversee the affairs of the party and prepare it for upcoming electoral activities in line with the Electoral Act 2026.

 

 

All staff of the party were directed to resume work at the PDP National Secretariat under the supervision of the BoT pending the inauguration of the interim leadership.

 

 

The statement praised the efforts of prominent PDP stakeholders including Bala Mohammed and Seyi Makinde, as well as the National Assembly caucus, state chairmen, youth and women wings, for standing by the party during the crisis.

Calling for unity, the BoT urged members to put aside personal interests and embrace reconciliation in order to rescue the party from further division.

 

 

“The PDP has suffered enough,” Wabara stated, warning that continued internal conflict would hurt not only the party but also millions of Nigerians looking to the PDP for credible opposition leadership ahead of 2027.

 

 

 

 

Political observers say the latest development could mark a decisive turning point in the PDP’s prolonged internal leadership crisis, with the BoT now carrying the burden of rebuilding cohesion and restoring public confidence in Nigeria’s main opposition party.