FORMER Governor of Jigawa State, Sule Lamido, has insisted that he will not attend the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) national convention scheduled for November 15 in Ibadan, declaring that doing so would amount to renouncing his recently restored legal rights and dignity.
Lamido, speaking during an interview on Channels Television’s Politics Today monitored by News Point Nigeria, said he approached the court to reclaim his constitutional right to contest for leadership positions within the party after he was blocked from obtaining the nomination form for national chairman.
According to him, the suit was not a battle against the PDP but a personal struggle to restore his dignity.
“I went to court not because I have anybody in mind,” he said. “I went to get my rights back, taken away by my party. The issue is about my own personality, dignity, and honour being restored more than anything else.”
The former governor described the internal wrangling in the PDP as particularly painful, noting that the party once enjoyed unity and cohesion.
“It is tormenting that the case I won is about my party and our unity as a family. A family that was so united, cohesive, with so much love and trust, is now eroded. We are simply fighting, and I feel very sad,” he lamented.
Lamido stressed that he could not withdraw the case even if he wanted to.
“There is a judgment in place. How do I go to the convention? Am I now renouncing something I gained in court?” he asked.
“If I go to the convention, then it means whatever I have gotten has been washed away. The court gave a very clear injunction that the convention must not hold. So how do I go there? I can’t go.”
The former governor dismissed rumours that he had been in secret meetings with PDP governors over the ongoing crisis. Instead, he accused them of weakening the party and contributing to its collapse.
“PDP had 14 governors; today, there are only three left,” he said. “Under Bala Mohammed as chair of the PDP Governors’ Forum, we had 14. Under Damagum today, we are only three — and even the three, two are going. The problem came from the governors because they have a wrong notion of themselves, believing they are now in charge.”
Lamido reiterated that he was not desperate to become national chairman but was motivated by a desire to rebuild what he called the party’s “lost structure.”
Lamido’s case added to the multiple legal proceedings surrounding the planned national convention.
An Oyo State High Court in Ibadan recently adjourned ruling on a preliminary objection that questioned its jurisdiction over a suit filed by PDP member Folahan Adelabi. The suit challenges the legality of the November 15–16 convention.
While the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) argued that only the Federal High Court could hear the case, the claimant insisted that the objection violated his constitutional rights. The Oyo court adjourned its ruling to December 8 but maintained its interim order allowing the party to proceed with preparations.
On the other hand, the Federal High Court in Abuja issued a final order stopping the PDP from holding the convention entirely. Justice Peter Lifu ruled in favour of Lamido, directing that the event must be suspended until Lamido is allowed to purchase the nomination form.
Amid the escalating legal and political tensions, former Senate President Bukola Saraki advised the PDP to suspend the convention and set up a caretaker committee to allow for reconciliation and restore trust among aspirants.
But the party’s governors and major stakeholders think otherwise.
Meeting in Abuja on Thursday, they declared the dates “irrevocable,” insisting that the convention would go on as planned. Delegates have already arrived in Ibadan, and the Lekan Salami Stadium has been fully decorated in anticipation of the event.