Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Oba Maduabuchi, has declared that the Peoples Democratic Party cannot make progress without a Supreme Court judgement to resolve the contradictions arising from the Court of Appeal’s ruling on the party’s factions.
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Speaking on Arise TV’s morning show on Monday, Maduabuchi said the Court of Appeal backed the expulsion of members of the Pro-Wike faction, yet the same people were elected as members of the National Working Committee at Sunday’s convention — from the same party from which they had been expelled.
“The Court of Appeal said yes, these people were validly expelled from the party. The same people were on Sunday elected as members of the National Working Committee of the same party from which they had been expelled,” Maduabuchi stated.
“So the conundrum comes in… it’s all confusing.”
The Senior Advocate argued that Justice Omotoso’s judgement was contradictory because the court could not say the Pro-Wike faction was rightly expelled from the party and then affirm the Abdulrahman Mohammed-led administration as authentic.
“The problem now is between the judgment of the Court of Appeal. The Court of Appeal said Wike and others were validly expelled. And then the same Court of Appeal says you are to recognize Muhammad Abdulrahman who are part of the expelled members of the PDP,” Maduabuchi said.
“We only have to wait for the Supreme Court to clear all these because it is just not possible. You can’t speak from two sides of your mouth.”
He added: “They were validly expelled by the NWC. Then those who were expelled validly held a convention. I don’t know whether you can unravel that.”
Maduabuchi traced the PDP crisis from its origins, noting that Iyorchia Ayu was undoubtedly the National Chairman that everybody accepted before he was removed and Umar Damagun stepped into his shoes.
“Damagun was having his problems but whatever it is, he lasted up till the 8th of December 2025 when his tenure ended. And that is where we start having problems,” he said.
“There is this Muhammad Abdulrahman who suddenly became chairman or acting national chairman or chairman caretaker committee. I for one do not know how he came up.”
He noted that INEC recognized Damagun as the leader of the National Working Committee of the PDP up till December 8, 2025.
“Damagun did not plan this convention which happened which is still happening because it started yesterday to end today. So who informed INEC that this convention was going to take place? Where did they derive the authority from?” Maduabuchi asked.
The Senior Advocate specifically referenced the cases of Samuel Anyanwu and Kamaldeen Ajibade, who were among those expelled from the party.
“At the meeting, certain people were dismissed, expelled from the party including my good friend Sam [Anyanwu] and my brother Silk Kamaldeen [Ajibade] who is now… but both of them are now national officers,” Maduabuchi said.
“That is where the conundrum comes in.”
Maduabuchi criticised the decision to hold the convention while a matter was pending before the Supreme Court.
“You are aware that this matter is pending in the Supreme Court and you want to force on the Supreme Court a position of utter helplessness. What do you want us to do? And you proceed in defiance of the presence of this matter in the Supreme Court, the summit court of the land,” he stated.
“If it was in the days of Justice Kodo, I’m sure by now you would have heard an order from the Supreme Court canceling everything they did yesterday because you can’t defy the Supreme Court.”
He added: “If they were not aware it would be different but they are aware and somebody said there is no positive order. You don’t wait for a positive order. Once you are aware that your issue is before a court of law, you abide the result of that proceeding.”
Maduabuchi maintained that the November 2025 Ibadan convention held by the Turaki faction was also invalid due to a restraining order.
“With respect to the November 15th and 16th convention, there was a restraining order by Justice Peter Lufu asking that that convention should not hold. It was a direct positive order and we as lawyers know that even if it’s an area court that said don’t do it, you must obey,” he said.
“So when they held that convention in quotes, I knew that any judge, any judicial proceeding would set it aside.”
On the question of INEC’s presence at the convention, Maduabuchi clarified that it does not determine validity.
“The presence or absence of INEC does not invalidate or affect a convention. The word used is ‘may’ — that is optional. Whether they came or they didn’t come does not mean that it is invalid. It simply adds a veneer to whatever took place,” he explained.
When asked whether the PDP could field candidates before the May 30 deadline for primaries if the Supreme Court does not rule in time, Maduabuchi said:
“So far as today is concerned, the judgment of the Court of Appeal remains sacrosanct and extant — that the Wike group can field candidates between now and 30th May unless the Supreme Court says no.”
He noted: “How long did it take them to plan this convention? How long? When did the Court of Appeal rule and then they say there’s a convention and then we’ve had two days convention over 3,000 people.”
Maduabuchi predicted that problems would soon emerge in the APC as members who lose their tickets defect to the PDP.
“We as lawyers who deal in political matters, we’re expecting that very soon there will be problems in the APC and people who lose their tickets will go back to PDP,” he said.
“That is when another round of troubles will start. You will come, you want the ticket, the man who was there before says no you can’t come in now and take it — we start another round of what is normally called pre-election matters.”
The Senior Advocate also expressed concerns about provisions in the Electoral Act 2026, particularly regarding party membership registers.
“A law cannot amend the constitution. We have freedom of movement and you have freedom of association. All they need to do is to write a letter to INEC and say we have submitted our membership register to you, more people have joined in,” Maduabuchi said.
“You cannot say people cannot join because you submitted. I don’t think that is part of what the law said — that nobody can come in after you submitted the register.”
On the provision penalizing persons whose names appear on multiple party registers, he said: “They added a very stringent measure recently that if they find your name on two different registers that you will be penalized. All of those things are part of the things people complain about this new electoral law.”
Maduabuchi disclosed that lawyers are already considering legal challenges to the Electoral Act.
“All of them are things that ought to be challenged in court. I think somebody has spoken to me about it, but it’s not for public consumption,” he said.
“Like I said, we are already beginning to think of what to do with it in court. And by the time we finish in court, we’ll see how far we’ll be. So, it will be chop time for lawyers.”
Maduabuchi’s analysis underscores the legal quagmire in which the PDP finds itself ahead of the 2027 elections.
The central contradiction — that the Court of Appeal upheld the expulsion of Pro-Wike faction members while simultaneously recognizing a leadership structure composed of those same expelled members — creates a legal impossibility that only the Supreme Court can resolve.
With the May 30 deadline for party primaries approaching, the PDP faces the prospect of fielding candidates under a leadership whose legitimacy remains contested in the highest court of the land.
The Senior Advocate’s prediction of impending APC defections adds another layer of complexity, suggesting that the PDP’s internal crisis may intersect with broader political realignments in the coming months.
Until the Supreme Court delivers a definitive ruling, the PDP remains trapped in what Maduabuchi described as a “conundrum” — with two conventions, two sets of expelled-yet-elected officers, and a party structure that defies legal coherence.
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