The PDP faction led by Kabiru Turaki, SAN, on Friday announced the submission of former President Goodluck Jonathan as its presidential candidate for the 2027 general elections amid the party’s unresolved leadership crisis.
The faction’s Interim National Working Committee said it submitted Jonathan’s name alongside governorship, National Assembly and state assembly candidates to the Independent National Electoral Commission in line with the Electoral Act 2026.
National Publicity Secretary of the faction, Ini Ememobong, said INEC acknowledged receipt of the documents despite allegedly denying the group access to the electronic submission codes required for the process.
He maintained that the Turaki-led group remained the authentic leadership of the PDP, following what it described as a Supreme Court judgment that created a vacuum in the party’s national leadership structure.
According to Ememobong, the PDP Board of Trustees and a requisitioned National Executive Committee meeting established the interim leadership arrangement to address the crisis and reposition the party.
The faction disclosed that it had approached the Federal High Court in Abuja after accusing INEC of refusing to recognise the interim leadership despite receiving formal notifications about its formation.
Ememobong criticised a recent judgment by Justice Salim Oluwasupo Ibrahim, arguing that it conflicted with previous rulings of the Supreme Court and Court of Appeal on the party’s leadership dispute.
He said the faction had appealed the decision and remained confident that the appellate court would uphold earlier judgments that supported its position in the ongoing legal battle.
The PDP faction also accused INEC of lacking neutrality in handling the party’s internal affairs, alleging that the commission had ignored relevant facts and court decisions favourable to the opposition party.
Ememobong warned that publishing candidates different from those submitted by the faction would raise concerns about the electoral body’s impartiality and deepen fears over the future of opposition politics.
He urged PDP members and supporters to remain confident, assuring them that the faction would continue using constitutional and legal channels to resolve the dispute and protect multi-party democracy.
The spokesman described the crisis as part of a wider struggle against what he called electoral authoritarianism, insisting that democratic institutions must not be used to weaken opposition parties.
