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“The appellants violated a subsisting order of the Federal High Court restraining them from proceeding with the planned convention,” he said.
The Supreme Court has nullified the national convention organised by a faction of the Peoples Democratic Party in Ibadan, Oyo State, dealing a blow to the group aligned with former Minister of Special Duties, Tanimu Turaki, SAN.
In a majority ruling delivered by a five-member panel on Thursday, three justices dismissed the appeal brought by the Turaki faction, upholding earlier decisions of both the Federal High Court and the Court of Appeal which had faulted the exercise.
Delivering the lead judgment in appeal number SC/CV/164/2026, Justice Stephen Adah ruled that the appellants went ahead with the convention despite an existing court order barring them from doing so.
“The appellants violated a subsisting order of the Federal High Court restraining them from proceeding with the planned convention,” he said.
The court also struck out the cross-appeals and directed all parties to bear their own costs.
The justices noted that the breach of the court order was not contested and agreed with the lower courts that the faction misused judicial processes by securing a conflicting order from a court of equal jurisdiction in Ibadan after an earlier restraining directive had been issued.
Justice Adah added that the lower courts were correct to rely on Sections 221, 222 and 229 of the 1999 Constitution, stressing that political parties must strictly observe constitutional provisions, electoral rules and valid court orders in their internal processes.
The case stemmed from a March 9 judgement of the Court of Appeal, which affirmed the earlier decision of the Federal High Court voiding the convention and restraining the Independent National Electoral Commission from recognising its outcome. The apex court had reserved its verdict after hearing arguments on April 22.
