Appeal Court ruling has left Nigeria’s main opposition party with only two governors, and their next move could determine whether the party survives as a national political force.
Behind a small mosque known locally as Masalaci in Area 1, Mpape in Abuja, the afternoon Ramadan heat hangs heavily over a narrow line of roadside stalls. A few customers sit on wooden benches. Traders speak quietly. Inside one stall, 41-year-old phone repairer Samaila Ibrahim bends over a cracked smartphone on his workbench. A tiny screwdriver turns carefully in his hand.
“So the court has cancelled their convention?” he asks. The customer nods. Samaila shakes his head slightly and returns to the open phone on his table.
“If their convention no longer exists, who will present their presidential candidate?” he says, tightening a small screw. For now, the only national leadership recognised by the Independent National Electoral Commission is the caretaker committee headed by Abdulrahman Mohammed as chairman and Samuel Anyanwu as secretary, widely seen as politically aligned with FCT Minister Nyesom Wike.
The ruling shifted the balance of power inside the party. A faction that had earlier lost the internal struggle now controls the structure recognised by law.