The Federal High Court in Abuja has fixed November 11, 2025, for hearing on a motion filed by former Governor of Jigawa State, Sule Lamido, seeking to stop the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) from holding its forthcoming national convention scheduled for November 15–16 in Ibadan, Oyo State.
Justice Peter Lifu fixed the date on Thursday after lawyers representing both the plaintiff and defendants adopted their affidavits and presented their arguments before the court.
Lamido’s legal action followed his public threat last month to sue the PDP over what he described as the “unjust and exclusionary conduct” of the party’s leadership in the run-up to the convention.
He had accused the National Working Committee (NWC) of deliberately withholding the nomination form for the chairmanship position despite repeated requests, claiming that such an act contravened the PDP constitution and undermined internal democracy.
The former governor, a founding member of the PDP and one-time Foreign Affairs Minister, vowed not to sit idly while “a few individuals hijack the party’s structure for personal gain.”
Lamido, through his counsel, Jeph Njikonye, SAN, filed a motion ex-parte on October 31, praying the court to restrain the PDP and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) from proceeding with the convention pending the determination of his substantive motion.
The former governor argued that the party’s leadership violated its own constitution by failing to make available the nomination form for the position of national chairman, a post he intended to contest for, despite being “eminently qualified.”
He contended that the party’s action was a deliberate attempt to shut him out of the contest and therefore amounted to a breach of his fundamental right to fair participation in the internal democratic process.
Justice Lifu, however, declined to grant the interim injunction sought by Lamido and instead ordered the PDP and INEC—listed as the 1st and 2nd defendants—to show cause within 72 hours why the order should not be granted.
At Thursday’s resumed hearing, Njikonye reminded the court that the order to show cause had been duly issued and complied with. Counsel to the PDP, Omokayode Dada, SAN, and counsel to INEC, Adamu Bello, confirmed that their respective counter-affidavits had been filed and served on the plaintiff.
