A faction of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), led by Kabiru Turaki, says the party will participate in the 2027 general election despite its internal crisis.
Ini Ememobong, spokesperson of the Turaki faction of the PDP, spoke on Tuesday after an expanded meeting of the party’s board of trustees (BoT), which included governors, national working committee (NWC) members, state chairmen and other stakeholders.
Ememobong said the meeting was convened to deliberate on the implications of the recent court of appeal judgement and the party’s survival, with a view to ensuring it remains eligible to participate in the upcoming general election.
“Despite the underlying issues, the spirit in the room was clear — PDP must not die. Nigerians still look up to the PDP as a stable platform to contest elections, especially with the tight timelines outlined by INEC,” Ememobong said.
“The guiding philosophy of the discussions was that PDP will be saved and will remain a political party that will be on the ballot.”
Ememobong said party leaders considered various legal, political and strategic options aimed at safeguarding the PDP’s future.
“Several ideas, legal, social, political and even emotional, were proposed on how to ensure two things: that PDP does not die and that PDP will be on the ballot,” he said.
Ememobong said the discussions would continue on Wednesday, expressing confidence that clearer strategies would be proposed after further deliberations.
The PDP is battling a leadership crisis that has polarised the party into two factions.
On Monday, the court of appeal in Abuja nullified the PDP national convention held on November 15 and 16, 2025, in Ibadan, the capital of Oyo, which produced Turaki as the national chairman.
The court of appeal upheld the judgment of a federal high court, which restrained the PDP from conducting the national convention.
A three-member panel of the appellate court dismissed an appeal filed by the Turaki faction, challenging the jurisdiction of the Abuja federal high court to entertain the suit.
Uchechukwu Onyemenam, who delivered the lead judgment, held that the PDP faction failed to serve the electoral body with a valid notice of the convention as required by law.
Onyemenam ruled that the matter raised by those who filed the suit at the high court should not be regarded as internal affairs of the party and that the lower court was right in assuming jurisdiction and granting an order restraining the electoral umpire from accepting or recognising the outcome of the national convention.
On Tuesday, Nyesom Wike, minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), who is aligned with the faction led by Abdulrahman Muhammed, commended the court ruling, describing it as an opportunity to rebuild the party.
