The Federal High Court in Abuja has adjourned to January 23, 2026, the hearing of an application by the Kabiru Turaki-led faction of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) seeking a stay of proceedings in a suit filed by the Wike-aligned faction of the party.
Justice Joyce Abdulmalik fixed the date to allow the plaintiffs’ lawyer, Dr. Onyechi Ikpeazu, SAN, to respond to the motion for a stay filed by the Turaki-led faction.
The suit, filed by the Wike-led PDP under Acting National Chairman Alhaji Mohammed Abdulrahman and factional National Secretary Senator Samuel Anyanwu (FHC/ABJ/CS/2501/2025), seeks to stop the Turaki-led faction (5th to 25th defendants) from representing the party in any capacity or accessing the PDP national secretariat at Wadara Plaza, Abuja.
The plaintiffs also asked the court to prevent the police, Department of State Services (DSS), and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) from recognising any office address submitted by the Turaki faction, insisting that previous High Court judgments by Justices James Omotosho and Peter Lifu be fully enforced.
The dispute escalated after Justice Abdulmalik granted an ex-parte order restricting action pending the suit’s determination. The Turaki-led faction challenged the ruling at the Court of Appeal and filed a motion to stay proceedings in the High Court pending the appeal.
Chief Chris Uche, SAN, representing the Turaki-led faction, also requested the judge recuse herself, citing a reasonable apprehension of bias and alleging that past rulings in similar PDP disputes favoured the Wike-aligned faction. He urged the case be reassigned to another judge.
Dr. Ikpeazu argued that the filing of an appeal does not automatically halt proceedings and that the High Court has the authority to continue the case while the appeal is pending. He also noted that the Turaki-led faction had not filed any motion to set aside the prior order.
Justice Abdulmalik directed the plaintiffs to formally respond to the motion for stay and adjourned the matter to January 23 for the hearing.
The Turaki faction’s recusal motion cited twelve grounds, emphasising their constitutional right to a fair and impartial hearing under Section 36(1) of the 1999 Constitution, and raised concerns over alleged ex-parte orders that prejudiced them in favour of the rival faction.
I love the efforts you have put in this, thankyou for all the great posts.
Just desire to say your article is as astounding. The clearness in your post is simply great and i can assume you’re an expert on this subject. Well with your permission allow me to grab your feed to keep up to date with forthcoming post. Thanks a million and please continue the enjoyable work.