PDP BoT factions clash over Supreme Court ruling on party leadership

Verdict: True. The Peoples Democratic Party’s Board of Trustees is split, with two factions issuing contrary readings of the Supreme Court’s November 15–16, 2025 ruling that nullified the party’s Ibadan convention.

Claim: Rival BoT factions are offering opposing interpretations of the Supreme Court judgment to legitimize their own leadership claims.

Evidence: Senator Mao Ohuabunwa, chairman of the Wike‑aligned BoT faction, said the judgment “affirms the earlier decisions of the Federal High Court and the Court of Appeal nullifying the purported National Convention” and declared the Mohammed–Anyanwu National Working Committee the “valid and stabilizing authority.”

Evidence: Former Senate President Adolphus Wabara, leading the opposing BoT bloc, argued the same ruling “canceled all factions” and placed statutory responsibility on the Board of Trustees, stating they had “assumed control to ensure that there is no leadership vacuum.”

Verdict: The claim is true; both factions are indeed citing the same Supreme Court decision to support contradictory leadership positions.

Analysis: The split shows how a single legal outcome can be leveraged for competing political ends within the PDP. The Wike‑aligned group treats the judgment as a confirmation of an existing leadership structure, while the Wabara group views it as a clean slate that transfers authority to the Board of Trustees. This divergence deepens the party’s crisis, prompting calls for a National Reconciliation Committee and raising questions about which faction will prevail in upcoming party meetings.

Watch for the next Board of Trustees plenary session and the formation of the proposed reconciliation committee, which may clarify whether the PDP can move toward a unified leadership or remain divided.