Eshioromeh Sebastian
Rights activist, Deji Adeyanju, has praised the Supreme Court and President Bola Tinubu following the apex court’s judgment on the leadership crises rocking the African Democratic Congress (ADC) and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
In a post shared on his social media handle on Thursday, Adeyanju commended the judiciary for preserving democracy and resisting what he described as anti-democratic elements within and around the Tinubu government.
“I commend the Supreme Court and the judiciary for preserving our democracy and preventing anti-democratic elements within and around the Tinubu government from destroying our country,” Adeyanju wrote.
He also praised President Tinubu for withstanding pressure from those around him, stating: “President Tinubu must also be commended for resisting the pressure of all the sycophants around him.”
The activist further made a political prediction, saying: “Even with a united opposition, I don’t see them defeating Tinubu. The shameless anti-democratic acts carried out to embarrass Nigeria was avoidable. The best time they had to defeat Tinubu was in 2023 but they kept fooling around.”
The Supreme Court delivered its judgments on Thursday, in two separate appeals concerning the leadership disputes within the PDP and ADC .
PDP Leadership Crisis
In a split decision of two-three, the Supreme Court voided the Senator Tanimu Turaki-led national convention of the PDP held in Ibadan, Oyo State, on November 15 and 16, 2025 .
Justice Stephen Jona Adah, who read the lead majority judgment, held that disobedience to a lawful court order by the Seyi Makinde-backed faction of the PDP was “an unpardonable act that must not be allowed in the interest of the rule of law and democracy” .
The court declared the Ibadan convention invalid and set aside all decisions, resolutions, and appointments that arose from it.
However, Justices Haruna Tsanami and Abubakar Sadiq Umar, in their minority judgment, held that the issue in dispute was an internal affair of a political party that ought not to have been adjudicated upon by any court.
The PDP’s protracted crisis has roots dating back over a decade. The party, once Africa’s largest political party that produced President Olusegun Obasanjo and 21 governors at the inception of the Fourth Republic in 1999, began to unravel in May 2013 during the Nigeria Governors’ Forum crisis.
That crisis saw the party lose five governors, Aliyu Wamakko, Murtala Nyako, Abdulfatah Ahmed, Rabiu Kwankwaso, and Rotimi Amaechi, who defected to the newly formed All Progressives Congress (APC) .
The most recent crisis escalated during the lead-up to the 2023 presidential primary, when the G-5 governors led by Nyesom Wike and Seyi Makinde opposed Atiku Abubakar’s nomination, arguing it was the turn of the South to produce the president after eight years of the late President Muhammadu Buhari .
The situation climaxed on November 25, 2025, when the faction loyal to Ambassador Umar Damagum conducted a national convention in Ibadan in defiance of two separate Federal High Court orders . The convention produced a new National Working Committee led by Tanimu Turaki, resulting in the expulsion of Wike and his allies .
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) had rejected the Ibadan convention, citing the court orders that restrained it from supervising, monitoring, or recognizing the convention’s outcome .
ADC Leadership Crisis
The Supreme Court also delivered judgment on the ADC leadership dispute, which involved factions led by former Senate President David Mark and Nafiu Bala Gombe .
The appeal, marked SC/CV/180/2026, challenged the jurisdiction of courts to intervene in what the Mark-led faction argued were internal affairs of the party.
The ADC crisis can be traced to the resignation of the party’s long-time National Chairman, Ralph Okey Nwosu, in late July 2025 . Nwosu had led the ADC since its inception.
Following his resignation, the party’s National Executive Committee (NEC) met and adopted resolutions empowering itself to act pending a national convention. A new list of national officers was released, naming David Mark as interim National Chairman and Rauf Aregbesola as interim National Secretary .
However, Dumebi Kachikwu, who ran on the ADC’s presidential ticket in 2023, emerged as a prominent dissenting voice. He accused the interim leadership of illegitimacy, arguing that Nwosu’s tenure had actually expired in August 2022, and that any decisions made under his authority lacked constitutional backing .
Adding to the complexity, the party’s Deputy National Chairman, Nafiu Bala, also declared himself interim National Chairman, citing the party’s constitution that the deputy automatically assumes the chairman’s position when it becomes vacant .
Prior to the Supreme Court judgment, a Federal High Court in Abuja had barred INEC from recognizing or participating in any state congress organized by the disputed caretaker leadership of the ADC . The court also restrained the David Mark-led leadership from interfering with the functions and tenure of elected state executives.
Political analysts say the Supreme Court’s judgment is expected to shape the 2027 general election, as both the PDP and ADC have been key opposition parties .
The PDP has seen significant erosion of its structures, with most of its governors and lawmakers defecting to the APC since 2020. Of all PDP governors elected in the 2023 general elections, only Governors Seyi Makinde (Oyo), Bala Muhammed (Bauchi), Dauda Lawal (Zamfara), and Ahmadu Fintiri (Adamawa) remain in the party .
Meanwhile, the ADC has become a major opposition political party, boasting the second highest number of federal legislators and prominent presidential aspirants including former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, Peter Obi, Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, as well as former governors Rotimi Amaechi and Rauf Aregbesola .
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