Party Professionals Demand Evacuation of National Headquarters Following Appeal Court Ruling

ABUJA — The internal warfare rocking Nigeria’s main opposition platform, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), took a dramatic turn over the weekend as the PDP Professionals Network issued a stern ultimatum to the Tanimu Turaki-led faction, demanding they immediately vacate the party’s National Headquarters (Wadata Plaza) in Abuja.

The demand follows Wednesday’s landmark ruling by the Court of Appeal in Abuja, which dismissed an appeal seeking to overturn a Federal High Court judgment that recognized the Caretaker Committee loyal to the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike.

The Legal Knockout

The three-member appellate panel, led by Justice Uchechukwu Onyemenam, unanimously held that the legal challenge brought forward by the Turaki faction had become a mere “academic exercise.”

The court noted that because the Supreme Court had already delivered a definitive 3–2 split judgment on April 30, 2026, nullifying the November 2025 Ibadan Convention that produced Turaki’s leadership, any derivative legal battles were dead in the water.

“Once the Convention itself has been pronounced null, void, and of no effect by the Supreme Court, any superstructure erected upon it is necessarily without legal foundation,” the appellate court ruled.

“Pack Your Bags” — Professionals Network Reacts

In a statement released swiftly after the Certified True Copy (CTC) of the judgment was obtained, the PDP Professionals urged the remnants of the parallel working committee to respect the rule of law and stop “constituting a nuisance” at the party’s secretariat.

The group emphasized that with the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) already releasing the official 2027 candidate nomination upload access codes to the Wike-backed National Working Committee (NWC) led by Abdulrahman Mohammed, any further resistance amounts to political sabotage.

• On Party Legitimacy: The group stated that the courts have systematically dismantled every legal leg the parallel structure stood on.
• On the 2027 Elections: They warned that continuing to issue parallel nomination forms to unsuspecting aspirants would only lead to the mass disqualification of PDP candidates in the upcoming general elections.
• On Secretariat Control: They called on security agencies to ensure a peaceful and complete takeover of the Wadata Plaza by the legally recognized Abdulrahman Mohammed executives to prevent a breakdown of order.

Wike Camp Declares Total Victory

Reacting to the string of judicial victories, stakeholders aligned with the FCT Minister maintained that the era of factionalism within the umbrella party is officially over.

The National Publicity Secretary of the recognized NWC, Jungudo Mohammed, confirmed that the administrative machinery of the party is fully operational under their control, backed by statutory monitoring from INEC.

Meanwhile, the Turaki-led camp, which has the backing of the Adolphus Wabara-led Board of Trustees (BoT), has continuously protested INEC’s alignment with the Wike camp, alleging external manipulation from the ruling APC to weaken the opposition ahead of 2027.

With the judiciary slamming the door on further appeals regarding this convention cycle, the battle lines are now moving away from the courtrooms and directly into who controls the physical structure and daily administration of the Wadata Plaza.