Makinde-Backed PDP Faction Names Turaki as Interim National Chairman

A faction of the Peoples Democratic Party aligned with Seyi Makinde has appointed Kabiru Turaki as chairman of an interim National Working Committee (NWC), in a move seen as part of efforts to stabilise the party’s leadership structure.

Turaki’s emergence was announced on Monday during the party’s 103rd National Executive Committee meeting held in Abuja, where a 13-member interim NWC was also constituted.

Members of the committee include Woyengikuro Daniel, Hamza Koshe, Ihediwa Nnabugwu, Isa Abubakar, Okechukwu Daniel, Theophilus Shan, Ini Ememobong, Aribisala Idowu, Bara’u Shafi’i, Ogbu Chinenyenwa, Umar Aji, and Arapaja Taofeek, who will serve as secretary.

The motion for the committee’s appointment was moved by Anthony Aziegbemi, chairman of the party in Edo State.

The development comes amid an ongoing leadership tussle within the party following recent court rulings that invalidated its last national convention.

Last week, Adolphus Wabara announced that the party’s Board of Trustees had assumed control of its affairs after a Supreme Court decision nullified the convention held in November 2025, where Turaki had earlier emerged as national chairman.

In a split judgment delivered on April 30, the Supreme Court of Nigeria dismissed an appeal filed by the Turaki-led faction seeking to validate the convention.

Reading the lead judgment, Justice Stephen Adah held that the appellants acted in violation of an existing order of a Federal High Court which had restrained the party from proceeding with the convention.

The court ruled that the faction went ahead with the exercise in “flagrant disregard” of the subsisting order, adding that the appeal lacked merit.

The legal dispute originated from a suit filed by Sule Lamido, who challenged the process leading to the convention, claiming he was denied the opportunity to obtain nomination forms in line with the party’s constitution.

A Federal High Court in Abuja, presided over by Justice Peter Lifu, had issued both interim and final orders stopping the convention. The decision was later upheld by the Court of Appeal.

Despite the rulings, the faction proceeded with the convention, a move that ultimately led to the Supreme Court’s dismissal of its appeal.

Monday’s appointment of an interim leadership is expected to shape the next phase of the party’s internal reorganisation, as efforts continue to resolve the lingering crisis.