When The Law is Twisted, The Party Bleeds: A Memorandum To PDP Stakeholders

By Hon. Dahiru Yusuf Yabo

This is not a moment for silence or manipulation. It is a moment for clarity.

A judgment of the Supreme Court of Nigeria is not subject to selective interpretation. The majority decision is the law. The nullification of the Ibadan convention stands—final and binding.

What does not stand is the attempt to stretch that judgment beyond its scope. Courts do not decide issues not placed before them. Any claim that suspensions of party officers were “upheld” without being directly in issue is legally weak—at best, non-binding commentary.

Equally flawed is the argument that all leadership structures have collapsed. The nullification of one convention does not automatically invalidate another not before the court. Law does not operate by assumption.

The reliance on dissenting opinions to manufacture a leadership vacuum is even more untenable. Minority judgments do not create authority. They do not bind.

The invocation of Peoples Democratic Party Constitution 2017 Amendment to justify a Board of Trustees takeover is, therefore, a political stretch. The BoT is a stabilizing organ—not a self-activating authority. Its powers must be triggered through clear constitutional process, not contested interpretations.

The intervention led by Adolphus Wabara may be well-intentioned, but legitimacy requires procedure, not urgency.

At the same time, legal correctness alone cannot hold a party together. Denial of the crisis is as dangerous as its exaggeration.

What we have is not a settled transition, but a contested space shaped by partial readings of an incomplete judgment. Until the Certified True Copy is released, all claims remain provisional.

The way forward is simple: convene the NEC, interpret the judgment within the party constitution, and establish a lawful, collective path forward.

Anything less risks deepening division and weakening the party beyond repair.
The law must guide—not divide.

The choice is order or disorder. The responsibility is ours.

Dahiru Yusuf Yabo, Former Commissioner & Guber Candidate Sokoto State, Political & Security Analyst 2nd May 2026