The National Caretaker Working Committee (NCWC) of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has dismissed the judgment reportedly delivered by the Oyo State High Court on the party’s disputed convention, describing it as an “academic exercise” with no binding effect on the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

In a press statement issued in Abuja on Tuesday, the party’s National Publicity Secretary, Jungudo Haruna Mohammed, said the ruling was inconsequential to the legal and political issues surrounding the convention held on November 15 and 16, 2025.

He argued that the same court had earlier granted an interim order allowing the faction led by acting National Chairman, Umar Damagum, to proceed with the convention—popularly referred to as the “Amala Convention”—despite what he described as two valid and subsisting judgments of the Federal High Court restraining the exercise.
“For the avoidance of doubt, the said judgment does not bind INEC, as INEC was neither joined nor represented as a party in the suit,” Mohammed stated.
According to him, INEC had challenged the jurisdiction of the Oyo State High Court in the matter, after which the court struck out the Commission’s name from the proceedings.
“A judgment that does not bind INEC is of no consequence whatsoever as far as the issues at stake are concerned,” he said.

The NCWC maintained that the ruling has no legal effect on the conduct, monitoring or recognition of any convention purportedly held in November 2025.

The committee further noted that INEC had already complied with two subsisting judgments of the Federal High Court in Abuja restraining it from attending, monitoring or recognising the outcome of the disputed convention. It added that the Commission had also complied with a judgment of the Federal High Court in Ibadan, which nullified the convention and restrained Kabiru Turaki and his associates from parading themselves as leaders of the party.

Reassuring party faithful, the caretaker leadership said preparations for fresh congresses and a national convention had reached an advanced stage.
“The party remains committed to legality, due process, the rule of law and the entrenchment of internal democracy,” the statement added.

The latest court ruling is the most recent in a string of intra-party disputes that have dogged the PDP’s leadership structure in recent months, raising renewed concerns about cohesion within Nigeria’s main opposition party ahead of future electoral contests.