The leadership crisis rocking the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) worsened on Friday following conflicting interpretations of a judgment delivered by the Federal High Court, Ibadan Division, with rival factions laying claim to the party’s national leadership.

The Nyesom Wike-backed National Caretaker Working Committee (NWC) hailed the ruling as a decisive victory that affirmed its legitimacy.

But the Kabiru Tanimu Turaki (SAN)-led National Working Committee (NWC) dismissed the judgment as inconsequential, insisting that it neither invalidated its mandate nor settled the substantive issues already before the appellate courts.

Reacting to the judgment in an interview with The Guardian, chairman of the caretaker committee, Abdulrahman Mohammed, described the ruling as “a victory for democracy in Nigeria and within the PDP.”

According to him, the court’s decision vindicated the committee’s long-held position that due process was not followed in the events leading to the party’s disputed national convention held in Ibadan in November 2025.

“The Friday judgment by the Federal High Court in Ibadan is a victory for democracy in Nigeria and in the PDP. The judgment vindicated our earlier position that due process was not complied with in the activities that preceded the November convention,” Mohammed said.

He urged party leaders and members to seize what he described as a rare opportunity to rebuild the PDP under the caretaker arrangement.

“This is the time for all PDP leaders and members to rally round the national caretaker committee to build a very strong and enduring process in the party. This is not the time to content ourselves with former titles and stay away from activities that will return the PDP to its former position as Nigeria’s leading political party,” he added.

Mohammed further appealed to former governors, former ministers, former presidents and other leaders of the party to see the judgment as “a call to duty” to support the caretaker committee in restoring the PDP’s lost prominence.

In a statement issued shortly after the judgment, the national caretaker committee said it received the ruling “with profound satisfaction,” claiming that the court restrained the Turaki-led group from parading itself as the PDP’s National Working Committee and recognised the Abdulrahman Mohammed-led caretaker committee as the party’s legitimate leadership.

The statement, signed by the committee’s National Publicity Secretary, Jungude Haruna Mohammed, said the judgment nullified “the conduct, outcome, and entire proceedings of the purported convention held in Ibadan on the 15th and 16th November 2025.”

It described the ruling as “a decisive victory for the rule of law, constitutionalism, and internal party democracy,” adding that legitimacy within the PDP could only flow from strict compliance with the party’s constitution, extant laws and valid court orders.

The caretaker committee congratulated its supporters for their “patience, resilience, and unwavering faith in due process” and called on all party members to remain calm, law-abiding and united.

“We appeal to all aggrieved members to sheath their swords, as this victory belongs to the entire PDP family. Our doors remain open for genuine reconciliation and integration,” the statement said, while commending the judiciary for what it termed its impartial role in resolving political disputes.

However, the Turaki-led NWC sharply disagreed with that interpretation. Addressing journalists in Abuja, Turaki said the court merely declined to grant an order of mandamus sought by his group and did not, contrary to claims by the caretaker committee, determine the substantive leadership question.

He explained that the application before the court sought to compel the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to recognise the Ibadan convention and facilitate official party communication, but that the court declined the request on the grounds that granting it would amount to sitting in appeal over decisions of coordinate jurisdiction.

“For clarity, we approached the court seeking an order of mandamus to compel INEC to recognise the Ibadan Convention,” Turaki said.

“However, the court proceeded, suo motu, to grant reliefs that were neither prayed for nor canvassed by any of the parties.”

The former minister argued that the judgment conflicted with subsisting orders and earlier decisions of courts of coordinate jurisdiction, adding that his group had already filed a notice of appeal and a motion for stay of execution.

“This judgment is only one among several decisions of the Federal High Court on this subject matter, and the core issues are already before the Court of Appeal.

In that sense, this judgment is, technically speaking, academic, pending the authoritative pronouncement of the appellate courts,” he said.

Turaki assured party members that the NWC produced by the Ibadan convention “remains legally intact, firmly in place, and fully committed to the ongoing rebirth of the Peoples Democratic Party.”

“There is absolutely no cause for alarm. The rebirth movement is steadily on course. This judgment represents nothing more than the navigation of one of the judicial bends along our journey,” he added.