The Court of Appeal sitting in Abuja on Monday, March 9, 2026 affirmed a judgement of a Federal High Court that barred the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) from recognising the outcome of the national convention of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) that held in Ibadan in November 2025.
A Federal High Court in Abuja then presided over by Justice James Omotosho, now a Justice of the Court of Appeal, on October 31, 2025, restrained INEC from recognising the outcome of the Ibadan PDP national convention.
The three-member panel of the Court of Appeal in a unanimous judgment on Monday, resolved the four issues for determination against the PDP.
The appellate court held that the appeal by the PDP was without merit and that the Federal High Court was right to have entered the October 31, 2025 judgment.
Accordingly, the Court of Appeal granted all the reliefs sought by the plaintiffs and faulted the PDP’s claim that the trial court lacked jurisdiction.
In a unanimous decision, the three-member panel of the appellate court, chaired by Justice Mohammed Ambi-Usi Danjuma, with Justice Okechukwu Onyemenam and Justice Muhammed Mustapha as members, upheld the lower court’s judgment and imposed a fine of ₦2 million on the appellants.
The court also held that when a political party fails or refuses to conduct its congresses or conventions in line with its own constitution and the provisions of the Electoral Act, such matters can no longer be treated as purely internal party affairs.
The court held that once parties’ processes violate both the party’s constitution and relevant provisions of the Electoral Act, they become subject to judicial review.
It therefore declared that any congress or convention conducted in breach of these legal requirements cannot stand in the eyes of the law, stressing that such actions undermine internal party democracy and the legal framework governing political parties.
