• Says defections hit politicians, not voters
• Court vacates arrest order against Turaki

Kabiru Tanimu Turaki-led faction of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) yesterday announced that it recorded over 4.2 million members in its ongoing digital registration exercise.

The announcement came as the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, yesterday vacated a bench warrant it issued on March 26 for the arrest of the factional National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Kabiru Turaki.

Describing the registration figure as a strong indication of sustained grassroots support, the party said the feat was achieved despite internal challenges and defections.

Addressing journalists in Abuja, the party’s National Publicity Secretary, Ini Ememobong, said data from the party’s portal showed that as of midnight on March 31, 2026, a total of 4,264,675 members had been registered across the country within a three-week period.

He noted that the exercise, conducted under a tight timeframe set by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), required extensive mobilisation of volunteers and resources to reach members in both rural and urban communities.

Describing the process as “herculean,” Ememobong said the outcome demonstrated that, while some political officeholders had defected, the electorate remained largely loyal to the PDP.

The PDP spokesman argued that millions of Nigerians who registered with the party had resisted pressures and inducements to join the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), insisting that their continued support placed a responsibility on the party’s leadership to safeguard their political future.

A breakdown of the data revealed that the average registration per polling unit stood at 24 members, while each of the 8,809 wards recorded an average of 484 members.

In terms of gender distribution, male members accounted for 2,336,069, slightly higher than the 1,928,606 female members, representing a margin of just over nine per cent.

Age demographics showed that youths between 18 and 40 years constituted 40.3 per cent of total registrants, followed by those aged 41 to 60 years at 30.7 per cent, while members aged 61 and above made up 28.9 per cent.

Geographically, the South-West zone led with 953,954 members, closely followed by the South-South with 917,652. The North-Central recorded 757,502 members, North-West 754,935, North-East 646,305, while the South-East had 234,327 registrants.
ON the vacation of Kabiru Turaki’s bench warrant, Justice Peter Kekemeke made the ruling following an oral application by Turaki’s lawyer, Chris Uche, SAN, and Turaki’s appearance in court.

When the case was called, Uche apologised to the court for his absence on the last date.
Uche, who claimed to be out of the country, said he returned earlier in the day and headed straight to the court.

Responding to the prosecution, Usman Rabiu, said he was not opposed to Uche’s applications.

In his ruling, Justice Kekemeke noted that the defendant attended court on his own before the arrest warrant could be executed.

The judge also noted that his lawyer had apologised for his absence, even though the reason for his absence was unclear from what Uche said.

He, however, elected to pardon the defendant and proceeded to vacate the arrest warrant.

Justice Kekemeke then adjourned until April 22 for Turaki’s arraignment on a one-count charge, marked CR/647/2026, brought against him by the Inspector General of Police (IGP).