2027: PDP factional chairman accuses judiciary of favouring APC against opposition

Former Minister of Special Duties and Inter-Governmental Affairs, Kabiru Turaki

Kabiru Turaki, factional chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), has accused President Bola Tinubu and the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) of influencing the judiciary to make pronouncements on disputes involving opposition parties in ways that destabilise them and favour the government.

Mr Turaki, a former minister of Special Duties and Inter-Governmental Affairs, said court judgments against opposition parties were often delivered in a “brazen and shameless manner” to favour factions whose members support the ruling party.

He referenced the recognition of the Nyesom Wike-backed PDP faction, led by Abdulrahman Mohammed, as the authentic leadership of the party. The faction is now backing the Rainbow Coalition being promoted by Mr Wike, a member of the party but serving as minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), to campaign for Mr Tinubu’s re-election in 2027.

Mr Turaki made the allegations at a press briefing in Abuja on Saturday.

“Another trick from the APC playbook is the judicialisation of politics, wherein the courts are used to erect hurdles on the path of the opposition and to remove the institutionalised uncertainty that a keenly contested election generates. How else can one explain the numerous cases and judgments that led to the derecognition, deregistration and destabilisation of opposition parties?

“All opposition parties have had their share of this anomaly, where the judiciary is used to answer political questions, in a way and manner that favours the ruling party. This is done in a brazen and shameless manner that the beneficiaries in the opposition are known supporters of the governing APC, championing an anti-democratic coven called Rainbow Coalition,” he said.

Mr Turaki warned that the alleged actions could undermine Nigeria’s democracy and pave the way for authoritarian rule.

“Today, the governing party, the All Progressives Congress, and the Presidency, led by a pseudo-democrat, are speeding down the infamous lane that leads to democratic destruction: the lanes of constriction of the political space, violence against the opposition, the ‘buying’ and co-optation of opposition leaders, and the judicialisation of politics.

“History, both local and foreign, has shown that these lanes lead to only one destination: the death of democracy and the birth of full authoritarian rule, which subjugates the people and destroys the nation,” he added.

The factional chairman urged the president to desist from allegedly influencing the judiciary and allow voters to freely choose their leaders without intimidation.

“Nigerians should be allowed to freely choose their leaders at all levels, not the current situation where public officials threaten voters to leave their jurisdictions if they do not vote for the APC. This threat has been widespread across the country, and some have now made their threats real by unleashing violence against the opposition,” he said.

The Court of Appeal, in a unanimous judgement delivered last Wednesday, upheld the earlier decision of the Federal High Court dismissing a suit challenging the leadership of the Wike-backed faction of the PDP, chaired by Mr Mohammed.

The appeal was filed by the PDP Board of Trustees (BoT), led by former Senate President Adolphus Wabara, which sought to compel the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to recognise the interim National Working Committee (NWC) led by Mr Turaki.

The appellants had argued that the committee emerged from a National Executive Committee meeting convened after an earlier Supreme Court judgement on the party’s leadership crisis. However, the appellate court upheld the lower court’s dismissal of their suit.

Mr Turaki’s faction has indicated that it is considering approaching the Supreme Court to challenge the latest Court of Appeal decision.

The PDP’s legal battle comes amid a similar crisis in the African Democratic Congress (ADC), where a Federal High Court in Abuja, on 5 November, nullified its NWC led by a former Senate President, David Mark, and invalidated decisions taken by the faction.

Peter Lifu, the judge, who delivered the judgment, held that the Mark-led NWC, which organised the party’s presidential primary that produced former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar as its candidate for the 2027 presidential election, was illegally constituted.

The suit was instituted by Nafiu Bala Gombe, a former deputy national chairman of the ADC, who challenged the process through which Mr Mark and other members assumed the party’s leadership. He argued that following the resignation of the party’s former National Chairman, Ralph Nwosu, he was constitutionally entitled to take over its leadership.

The court granted the plaintiff’s prayers, sacked the party’s national officers under the Mark-led leadership and invalidated the nomination of candidates presented by the faction to INEC for the 2027 elections.

The judgment also directed INEC not to recognise decisions taken at the party’s 99th National Executive Committee meeting of 27 July 2025 and subsequent actions, including the nomination of candidates.

The decision, however, does not mean that the ADC itself has been deregistered or outlawed. Rather, it invalidates the leadership structure that produced its candidates, including Atiku, and places the party’s participation in the 2027 elections in serious legal uncertainty pending the outcome of an appeal.

The development is particularly significant because the ADC has become a coalition platform for prominent opposition figures seeking to challenge President Bola Tinubu and the APC in 2027. The party has indicated that it will challenge the judgement at the appellate courts.

Mr Turaki also accused the president and the APC of using various tactics to weaken opposition parties ahead of the 2027 elections.

“This is a very ugly development that undermines democratic consolidation and paves the way for the enthronement of authoritarian rule. It is evident that President Tinubu and the APC are not ready for competitive elections, which is why they are deploying every tactic, in and out of the book, to ground any credible opposition party,” he added.

He urged President Tinubu to reconsider his approach, warning that he could not force himself on Nigerians in the 2027 elections.

“We draw the attention of the president, his handlers, INEC and the security agencies to the fact that they can foist a result on the people, but they cannot compel the country to legitimise their act. As we have said before, and it bears repeating here, there are two elections coming up: the first for the heart of the country, and the second for the office of the President.

“The president and his people are clearly working only for the latter, the office of the President, and not the former, winning the hearts and minds of citizens. Our question, therefore, is: what will it profit their party and candidates if they force a ‘win’ at the elections, but completely lose the country and derail democracy?”

Mr Turaki also condemned attacks on opposition figures, including Peter Obi of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC), Atiku Abubakar of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) and Omoyele Sowore of the African Action Congress (AAC).

Mr Obi’s convoy was attacked on 4 November around Watt Market Roundabout in Calabar, Cross River State, while he was returning from the palace of the Obong of Calabar to the Metropolitan Hotel, where a presidential town hall meeting was scheduled to be held. Suspected hoodlums reportedly attacked the vehicles with sticks and machetes, smashing some of their windscreens.

On 5 November, suspected political thugs attacked Mr Atiku’s campaign convoy in Kebbi State, throwing stones at vehicles and destroying cameras and other recording equipment belonging to journalists accompanying the campaign team.

On 30 October, Mr Sowore sustained injuries during an altercation with some individuals at a restaurant in Ado-Ekiti, Ekiti State. His associates initially alleged on social media that he had been kidnapped by armed thugs sponsored by the government and accused the DSS of providing the attackers with his location.

However, the Ekiti State Police Command denied that he was kidnapped, saying preliminary information indicated that he had an altercation with some individuals at the restaurant. The police said officers rescued him and took him to the Police Hospital in Ado-Ekiti, where he received treatment for injuries.

Mr Turaki accused the ruling party of being behind the attacks, alleging that the president’s political approach was encouraging thuggery.

“Specifically, we condemn the unabating, multi-system attacks on the opposition. Mr Peter Obi and NDC supporters have suffered repeated attacks in different states, the most recent in Delta State. Alhaji Atiku Abubakar and ADC rally convoys have had to resist attempts to prevent them from entering Sokoto and have been denied facilities for their campaigns. Mr Omoyele Sowore was seriously attacked and injured in Ekiti.

“In all these cases, the fingers point directly at suspected All Progressives Congress operatives, who are obviously buoyed by President Tinubu’s ‘all is fair in politics, as in war’ mantra. These touts obviously agree with the President that political victory is not served à la carte, but must be grabbed, snatched and run away with. That is not how to play politics in a civilised way,” he said.

Mr Turaki said the president could still reverse course, urging him to publicly and unequivocally condemn political violence and direct security agencies to investigate and prosecute everyone implicated in attacks on opposition candidates and supporters, irrespective of their political affiliation.

He also called on security agencies, through the Inter-Agency Consultative Committee on Election Security (ICCES), to publish a security plan for the elections and guarantee the safety of all candidates, campaign rallies and voters, regardless of party affiliation.

The factional chairman further demanded that governments at all levels stop denying opposition parties access to public facilities for their campaigns and that public officials cease threatening voters.

He urged the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to address discrepancies and alleged wrongful inclusions in the voters’ register.

He also called on the judiciary to dispense justice in accordance with the law rather than the whims and caprices of the executive.

Mr Turaki urged supporters of his faction to remain steadfast in defending Nigeria’s democracy.

“We urge Nigerians to remain steadfast in the defence of democracy. We must not lift our hands up in surrender; rather, we must continue to demand accountability, responsible leadership and the dividends of democracy. 2027 offers a great opportunity for us to choose leaders who will put the people first,” he said.