The Federal High Court in Abuja has fixed January 23, 2026, for the hearing of an application seeking a stay of further proceedings filed by the Kabiru Turaki-led faction of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the ongoing leadership crisis rocking the party.
Justice Joyce Abdulmalik adjourned the matter on Wednesday to allow counsel to the plaintiffs, Onyechi Ikpeazu, respond to the stay application brought by the Turaki faction.
The suit was instituted by the faction aligned with the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, through its acting National Chairman, Mohammed Abdulrahman, and factional National Secretary, Samuel Anyanwu.
In the suit marked FHC/ABJ/CS/2501/2025, the Wike-backed faction is seeking an order restraining the Turaki-led group from parading itself as the leadership of the PDP and preventing security agencies, including the police and the Department of State Services, from granting them access to the party’s national secretariat at Wadata Plaza, Abuja.
The plaintiffs also asked the court to restrain the Independent National Electoral Commission from recognising any office address submitted by the Turaki faction other than the one already in its records, and to affirm that INEC and security agencies are bound by earlier court judgments on the matter.
Justice Abdulmalik had earlier issued an ex-parte order directing all parties to maintain the status quo pending the determination of the suit.
Dissatisfied, the Turaki-led faction filed an appeal against the ex-parte order and subsequently brought a motion for stay of proceedings, alongside an application asking the judge to recuse herself from the case on grounds of alleged bias.
At Wednesday’s hearing, counsel to the Turaki faction, Chief Chris Uche (SAN), informed the court that the appeal had been entered at the Court of Appeal and urged the judge to stay proceedings, arguing that the trial court lacked jurisdiction to continue once an appeal had been entered.
However, Ikpeazu countered that an appeal against an interlocutory decision does not automatically amount to a stay of proceedings, insisting that the plaintiffs were ready to proceed with the substantive matter.
After confirming that the plaintiffs were served late with the stay application, Justice Abdulmalik directed them to file a formal response and adjourned the case to January 23 for the hearing of the motion.
Speaking after the proceedings, the National Publicity Secretary of the PDP National Working Caretaker Committee, Jungudo Mohammed, expressed optimism that the court would grant the reliefs sought, citing previous judgments of the Federal High Court on the party’s internal crisis.
