The National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Kabiru Turaki, SAN, has taken a swipe at the camp of the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, saying the PDP is not a market association.
Turaki spoke in reaction to Tuesday’s judgment of a Federal High Court that voided the claim of Senator Samuel Anyanwu to the office of the PDP National Secretary.
The presiding judge, Mohammed Umar, had dismissed a case filed by Anyanwu, seeking to retain the position of National Secretary even when his tenure had expired on December 8, 2025.
A PDP faction, loyal to Wike has been at loggerheads with the Turaki led leadership which has the backing of Governors Seyi Makinde of Oyo State and his Bauchi State counterpart, Bala Mohammed.
At the peak of the leadership crisis, the Wike camp had formed a breakaway faction, with Abdulrahman Mohammed as its national chairman and Anyanwu as National Secretary.
However, the latest court judgement appears to have sealed the fate of the Wike camp, apparently preluding what may be an end to the faction’s existence.
Speaking on the verdict, Turaki said, “The judgment of Justice Umar today has vindicated us in PDP, that, yes, we are the genuine leaders of PDP. It has vindicated us that, yes, our convention was legitimately done.
“It has vindicated us that, indeed, people cannot just go in one corner and then begin to ascribe to themselves the leadership of a political party.
“The PDP is not a market association, neither is it an association of shoe-shiners. This is a political party, and there must be discipline.”
Turaki, spoke after a meeting of PDP leaders and elders with former Vice President Namadi Sambo at the ex vice president’s Abuja residence.
The PDP chairman, who addressed journalists after the meeting, sounded upbeat about the party’s chances in the 2027 election and who will be eligible to seek the PDP’s presidential ticket.
He maintained the party’s position zoning its ticket to Southern Nigeria, saying that former President Goodluck Jonathan and other interested persons from the South are free to vie for the ticket.
Stating that the PDP already knows those who will not get its presidential ticket, Turaki reiterated that the slot is reserved for the South.
“We in PDP have taken a decision to zone our presidential ticket to the southern part of this country. For now, we do not know who may emerge as our candidate, even though we know those who will not be our candidate.
“So it’s open for every member of PDP that is living in southern Nigeria or of southern Nigeria descent. The process is going to be open, it’s going to be transparent, it’s going to be fair, it’s going to be equitable, and we are going to create a level playground for everybody.
“So if, for whatever reason, anybody wants to contest, we want to assure you, Nigerians, that you will be the deciders of who becomes your candidate,” the chairman said.
He assured Nigerians that the new PDP leadership NWC is working very hard to return the party to its “winning ways.”
“We will continue to tell Nigerians and indeed members of PDP out there, that your party is the biggest and greatest party in Africa. Your party is on the move again. And very soon, we shall come back to our winning days.
“Very soon we will position our party to win all elections that are going to be conducted in this country, beginning with the FCT Area Council elections, the Ekiti and Osun off-season governorship elections. So I want to assure us that we are on course,” he added.
The party chair chided some unnamed judges for giving judgments that cannot be defended in a number of the cases relating to the internal affairs of the party.
“Yes. It is a vindication for us in the PDP family. We have said time and time again, that the decision of the Supreme Court is sacrosanct. That our courts have no business meddling in matters that are purely political party matters.
“And that is why when some judges, who are judges of particular concern, recently gave judgments, dabbling into issues they ordinarily should not dabble into, and giving judgments, as it were, that cannot be rationalised by whatever level of argument.”
The chairman assured that the party is working round the clock to discharge all the cases in the court before election activities commence fully.
Turaki however said the party cannot determine the process through which the court will dispense justice, but added that all the records from the party will be transmitted timeously to ensure that justice is dispensed on time.
“We have fulfilled all righteousness. We have done everything that we need to do. We are waiting for date to be given for us, for our lawyers to go and argue our appeals,” said.
On the outcome of the meeting with Sambo, the party chair told journalists that the former vice president has pledged to play a more active role in the party and to be available for consultations.
Continuing, he said, “His Excellency has generously proffered advice and guidance to us on the way to move forward as far as propelling this party to once again become a veritable winning platform for Nigerians.
“But the most important thing for us this evening is the assurance that His Excellency has given us, that he is and will continue to remain a member of the PDP.
“His Excellency had assured us that very soon, that he will become more active than he used to be. He assured us that should there be anything at any time that requires attention, that we should not hesitate to run to him and he will be up and doing. And he will be there for us.”
Sambo, however, did not speak with the journalists regarding the outcome of the meeting.
Those that accompanied Turaki to the meeting included the PDP Board of Trustees (BoT), chairman, Senator Adolphus Wabara; former Information Minister, Prof. Jerry Gana; former Women Affairs Minister, Iyom Josephine Anenih; leader of the PDP caucus in the House of Representative, Fred Agbedi; former governor of Plateau State Jonah Jang among other stakeholders.
