The national working committee (NWC) of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) led by Kabiru Tanimu Turaki (SAN) has faulted the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) for withholding recognition of its leadership, insisting that there is “in law and fact” no faction within the party.
The reaction followed INEC’s decision to decline a request by the Turaki-led PDP to recognise the NWC that emerged from the party’s national convention held in Ibadan, Oyo State, in November, citing pending court cases arising from the disputed exercise.
In a letter dated December 22, addressed to the party’s legal representatives, Akintayo Balogun & Co, INEC said the matter remained sub judice and that it could not take any administrative action that might pre-empt the outcome of ongoing legal proceedings.
The Turaki-led NWC is backed by Oyo State Governor Seyi Makinde and his Bauchi State counterpart, Bala Mohammed.
The November convention, which produced a new set of national officers, followed a series of conflicting court rulings. While some Federal High Courts in Abuja issued orders restraining the PDP from holding the convention over alleged breaches of its constitution and the Electoral Act, an Oyo State High Court sitting in Ibadan cleared the party to proceed and directed INEC to monitor the exercise.
A rival faction of the party opposed to the Ibadan convention, led by the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, later announced a parallel national working committee, board of trustees (BoT) and national executive committee (NEC).
Subsequently, the Makinde-backed PDP formally wrote to INEC, requesting the commission to recognise Turaki as the party’s authentic national chairman and to update its records accordingly.
However, INEC, in its response, said it would not update its records to reflect any changes in the PDP’s national leadership until all court cases challenging the convention had been fully resolved.
“In the light of the above pending suits, your request is prejudiced and cannot be acceded to until the determination of the pending appeals,” INEC stated.
“In the circumstances, and in obedience to the rule of law and subsisting court orders, the commission is unable to accede to the demand to recognise or update the list of national officers said to have emerged from the PDP national convention of November 15–16, 2025.”
Reacting, the PDP National Publicity Secretary, Ini Ememobong, said the judgments cited by INEC had been appealed and that applications for stay of execution had been filed, noting that the Court of Appeal would soon pronounce on the matters.
He said INEC monitored and participated in the National Executive Committee meetings where the convention date and venue were unanimously agreed and was also formally notified of the convention, accusing the commission of suppressing those facts in court.
Ememobong added that INEC monitored recent PDP primaries in Ekiti and Osun states, with official communications issued by the Turaki-led NWC.
“While INEC claims neutrality and says it is awaiting the judgment of the court, it must be guided by recent Supreme Court decisions, including the SDP case, which barred the commission from interfering in the internal leadership affairs of political parties,” he said.
According to him, the PDP’s Board of Trustees, Governors’ Forum, state chairmen, National Assembly caucuses, former governors, former ministers and other stakeholder groups had, in the past month, met with and acknowledged the leadership of the Turaki-led NWC.
“The truth remains that there is no faction in the PDP, as all the legitimate organs and administrative structure of the party are under the control of Kabiru Tanimu Turaki (SAN),” Ememobong said.
He accused INEC of bias and inconsistency, questioning the rationale for recent engagements with PDP representatives while claiming that the matter was already before the courts.