An Oyo State High Court sitting in Ibadan has upheld the validity of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) 2025 National Convention held in the Oyo State capital and recognised Dr Kabiru Taminu Turaki as the lawful National Chairman along with his National Working Committee (NWC), multiple news outlets report.

Delivering judgment on Friday February 27, 2026, Justice Ladiran Akintola granted all 13 reliefs sought by the claimant in the suit, Folahan Malomo Adelabi, through his counsel Musibau Adetunmbi (SAN). The judge held that the November 15 and 16, 2025 convention complied with the provisions of the 1999 Constitution of Nigeria, the Electoral Act 2022 (as amended), and other relevant laws governing party elections.

The court also dismissed motions seeking to halt proceedings or suspend the judgment brought by rival factions within the party, including a request to join other parties in the suit, describing such applications as lacking merit.

In addition to affirming the legality of the convention itself the ruling directed the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to recognise and give effect to the outcomes of the exercise including the leadership structure that emerged under Turaki.

The decision brings a measure of legal clarity to a leadership dispute that has divided the PDP following the Ibadan gathering but it remains contested by other party factions, which have dismissed the ruling as inconsequential and argued that it does not bind INEC because the commission was not joined in the case.

The internal divisions in the PDP have been ongoing since the convention and several appeals are currently before the Court of Appeal in Abuja, where key legal questions about party leadership and recognition continue to play out.