The leadership crisis within the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has deepened after the Interim National Working Committee, chaired by Kabiru Turaki, manually submitted former President Goodluck Jonathan’s presidential nomination for the 2027 general elections to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
The submission occurred despite the electoral body's refusal to recognize the committee or provide access codes for the official electronic submission portal.
Addressing journalists at a press conference in Abuja, the committee's National Publicity Secretary, Comrade Ini Ememobong, confirmed that the interim leadership submitted the complete list of sponsored candidates—including Jonathan for president alongside governorship, National Assembly, and state assembly candidates. Ememobong noted that while INEC declined digital access, the commission formally acknowledged receipt of the physical documents. He emphasized that digital access codes represent an administrative convenience rather than a statutory prerequisite under the Electoral Act 2026.
The faction warned the electoral umpire against publishing any candidate list other than the one submitted by the interim leadership, asserting that the committee validly nominated its candidates in accordance with electoral laws. Ememobong cautioned that publishing an alternative list would prompt immediate legal action, adding that supporters and party members should not despair if initial publications reflect a different outcome, as the group is exploring every constitutional and legal avenue to prevent the party from being annexed by the ruling political structure.
Tracing the roots of the internal dispute, Ememobong explained that a Supreme Court judgment regarding the PDP’s leadership structure previously left the party without a legally recognized national executive body. In response, the party's Board of Trustees, alongside a requisitioned National Executive Committee meeting, established the Interim National Working Committee to oversee party affairs. However, INEC refused to extend recognition to the interim executive despite receiving formal notifications, forcing the faction to seek judicial intervention at the Federal High Court.
Faulting a recent Federal High Court ruling that went against the interim leadership, Ememobong stated that the judgment read more like an appeal against extant rulings of the Supreme Court and the Court of Appeal. He confirmed that the party has filed an appeal and plans to challenge discrepancies between the judgment delivered orally in open court and the contents of the Certified True Copy subsequently released.
The PDP spokesman also accused INEC of abandoning its duty of neutrality, alleging that the commission withheld material facts during court proceedings and deliberately ignored internal congresses it had monitored whenever acknowledging them conflicted with its stance in court. Ememobong argued that these actions erode public confidence in the electoral umpire and framed the faction's legal struggle as a broader effort to defend multi-party democracy against what he termed electoral authoritarianism and systematic opposition dismantling.
