Former Jigawa State Governor and founding member of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Sule Lamido, has taken legal action against the party at the Federal High Court in Abuja, seeking to stop its forthcoming national convention slated for November 15 and 16 in Ibadan, Oyo State.
According to Naija News, the convention is expected to produce new national officers to steer the affairs of the opposition party. However, Lamido, who also served as Minister of Foreign Affairs, contends that the process leading to the event is fundamentally flawed and discriminatory.
In the suit numbered FHC/ABJ/CD/2229/2025, filed through his counsel, Jephthah Chikodi Njikonye (SAN), Lamido prayed the court to restrain both the PDP and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) from proceeding with or supervising the convention.
The former governor claimed he was “unlawfully and illegally denied” access to the nomination form required to contest for the position of national chairman during the Ibadan convention.
Lamido argued that the party’s actions contravened its constitution and internal guidelines, which guarantee equal opportunities for all qualified members to vie for leadership positions. He maintained that the planning of the convention excluded vital stakeholders and failed to comply with the PDP’s constitutional provisions.
“The party failed to create equal opportunities for qualified aspirants, including myself, to contest for elective offices at the national convention,” he stated in his affidavit.
He further argued that the leadership’s refusal to sell him a nomination form constituted a violation of natural justice, insisting that the process must be suspended until the irregularities are addressed.
The plaintiff, therefore, sought a mandatory injunction compelling the PDP to issue him the nomination form for the position of national chairman before the convention proceeds.
Lamido also urged the court to restrain INEC from supervising, assisting, or recognizing any convention conducted without his inclusion, warning that such action would confer unlawful legitimacy on a process he described as unconstitutional.
