The Federal High Court in Abuja has fixed January 23, 2026, to hear an application seeking to stay further proceedings in a leadership tussle rocking the Peoples Democratic Party.
The application was filed by a faction of the PDP led by former Attorney-General of the Federation, Kabiru Turaki, against a suit instituted by another faction aligned with the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike.
Justice Joyce Abdulmalik adjourned the matter on Wednesday to enable counsel to the plaintiffs, Dr Onyechi Ikpeazu, SAN, to formally respond to the motion for stay of proceedings.
The suit, marked FHC/ABJ/CS/2501/2025, was instituted by the Wike-led faction of the party alongside its acting National Chairman, Alhaji Mohammed Abdulrahman, and the factional National Secretary, Senator Samuel Anyanwu.
The plaintiffs are seeking an order of injunction restraining the Turaki-led leadership, listed as the 5th to 25th defendants, from parading themselves as officers or representatives of the PDP in any capacity.
They also asked the court to restrain the Nigeria Police Force and the Department of State Services from granting the Turaki-led group access to the party’s national secretariat at Wadata Plaza, Abuja.
In addition, the plaintiffs urged the court to bar the Independent National Electoral Commission from recognising or accepting any address submitted by the Turaki-led faction as the PDP’s official office address, other than the one already on INEC’s records.
The plaintiffs further prayed the court to declare that INEC, the police and the DSS are constitutionally bound to enforce and give effect to previous judgments and rulings of the Federal High Court delivered by Justices James Omotosho and Peter Lifu.
Justice Abdulmalik had earlier granted an ex parte order directing all parties to maintain the status quo pending the determination of the suit.
Dissatisfied, the Turaki-led faction challenged the order at the Court of Appeal and also filed a motion before the trial court seeking a stay of proceedings pending the outcome of the appeal.
They equally filed an application asking Justice Abdulmalik to recuse herself from the case, citing alleged likelihood of bias.
When the case came up on Wednesday, Ikpeazu told the court that parties were ready to proceed, recalling that the court had earlier directed that all pending applications be taken together with the substantive suit.
However, counsel to the Turaki-led faction, Chief Chris Uche, SAN, informed the court that an appeal had been entered at the Court of Appeal, Abuja Division, with suit number CA/ABJ/CV/1770/2025.
Uche argued that once an appeal has been entered, the trial court is divested of jurisdiction to continue proceedings in the matter.
He cited the 2021 Supreme Court decision in Secondus v. Ibaochi Alex in support of his argument and urged the court to stay proceedings and adjourn the case sine die.
Responding, Ikpeazu contended that the filing of an appeal does not automatically operate as a stay of proceedings.
He argued that the appeal in question was against an interlocutory decision and did not affect the substantive issues before the court.
He maintained that the court possessed the inherent powers to continue with the matter and urged Justice Abdulmalik to proceed with hearing the case.
However, Justice Abdulmalik noted that the plaintiffs were only served with the motion for stay a day earlier and held that fairness demanded that Ikpeazu be given time to file a formal response.
The judge subsequently adjourned the matter till January 23 for the hearing of the application seeking to stay further proceedings in the suit.
In the recusal application, the Turaki-led faction urged the judge to withdraw from the case and remit the file to the Chief Judge of the Federal High Court for reassignment.
They anchored their request on alleged past antecedents and perceived partisanship, insisting that their constitutional right to fair hearing before an impartial tribunal must be protected.
The leadership crisis has further deepened divisions within the opposition party as both factions intensify legal battles over control of the PDP.
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