An Oyo State High Court sitting in Ibadan has again extended its interim order restraining any interference with the planned National Convention of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), scheduled for November 15 and 16, 2025, in Ibadan.
Justice Ladiran Akintola, on Wednesday, ordered that the earlier interim injunction granted on an ex-parte application by the claimant would remain in force until Friday, when the substantive suit comes up for further hearing.
The order effectively maintains judicial protection over the convention, preventing the defendants from taking any steps that could truncate or frustrate the exercise.
After listening to submissions from counsel on both sides, Justice Akintola adjourned the matter to Friday for continuation of hearing.
The court also declined to hear an application for joinder filed by another party, ruling that it was defective because the supporting affidavit was not signed by the deponent.
Counsel to the defendant, Emmanuel Ukala, SAN, argued that the omission did not invalidate the process since the identity of the deponent was not in doubt, insisting it did not amount to a complete absence of a signature.
However, the judge held that the document could not be accepted in its current form, but could be properly refiled.
Speaking to journalists after the proceedings, counsel to the claimant, Musibau Adetunmbi, SAN, explained that the interim injunction remains subsisting and enforceable.
“We were about to take the application for joinder when the court discovered that the affidavit was not signed,” he said. “However, the other party has indicated interest to file another one… The interim order of the court is still valid.”
In an earlier ruling on the ex-parte motion, the court had authorised the PDP to proceed with its National Convention as scheduled in Ibadan, while directing the party to strictly adhere to its guidelines, timetable and schedule of activities.
The claimant had sought orders restraining Acting National Chairman Umar Iliya Damagum; Adamawa State Governor Ahmadu Umaru Fintiri (for himself and members of the National Convention Organising Committee); and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) from frustrating the convention.
Meanwhile, the PDP has insisted that its 2025 National Convention will hold as planned this weekend in Ibadan, dismissing rumours of postponement as “false” and “misleading”.
In a statement on Wednesday, the party’s National Publicity Secretary and Secretary of the National Convention Organising Committee’s Publicity Sub-Committee, Hon. Debo Ologunagba, accused the All Progressives Congress (APC) of sponsoring misinformation in a “failed attempt” to derail the exercise.
“The 2025 National Convention of the PDP has not been postponed but will go on as scheduled,” he said, adding that alleged APC moves to destabilise the opposition and impose a one-party state “will be lawfully resisted.”
