The Federal High Court in Abuja has restrained the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) from recognising the outcome of the planned 2025 National Convention of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) scheduled to hold in November in Ibadan, Oyo State.
Delivering judgment on Friday, Justice James Omotosho held that the PDP failed to comply with essential legal requirements governing the conduct of such conventions.
According to the court, evidence presented by INEC and some respondents showed that congresses were not conducted in several states across the federation, contrary to the party’s constitutional and statutory obligations.
Justice Omotosho further ruled that all notices and correspondences signed solely by the PDP National Chairman, without the signature of the National Secretary, were invalid and amounted to a breach of the law.
He added that the party also failed to issue the mandatory 21-day notice to INEC ahead of its meetings and congresses, thereby denying the commission the opportunity to fulfil its monitoring responsibilities.
The judge concluded that the PDP’s non-compliance with the law rendered its planned national convention legally defective and warned that the exercise should not proceed until the party fulfills all statutory requirements.
