Former Jigawa State Governor, Sule Lamido, has said his decision to go to court over the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) leadership contest was a personal effort to reclaim his rights and dignity, not an attack on the party.

Speaking on Politics Today on Channels Television, Lamido explained that he approached the court to correct what he described as an injustice done to him by the party.

“In going to court, I have nobody in mind. I only went to get my rights back, rights taken from me by my party. This is about my personality, my dignity and honour being restored,” he said.

Lamido said that although he eventually won the case, it was painful that the legal dispute was against the same party he helped build.

“I won the case, fair enough, but it is tormenting that the case I won is about my party a family that was once united and cohesive, with so much love and trust. All that is eroded, and now we are simply fighting. I feel very sad; let the problem be solved,” he added.

He ruled out attending the PDP national convention scheduled for Today, November 15 in Ibadan, stressing that doing so would amount to disregarding a valid court order.

“For someone saved by the court, I can’t go where there is an injunction on the convention. Going there means renouncing what I gained in court. The court restored my dignity, and I stand by that,” he stated.

Lamido emphasised that the Abuja Federal High Court’s ruling was explicit:
“The court gave a very clear injunction that the convention must not hold, so how do I go there? I can’t.”

He denied meeting with PDP governors over the crisis and instead accused them of contributing to the party’s decline.

“PDP had 14 governors; today we have only three left. The problem came from the governors because they have a wrong notion of themselves that they are in charge,” he said.

According to him, he is not desperate to become national chairman but believes the PDP requires structural restoration, which he is willing to help achieve.

Lamido’s legal battle began in October after he was allegedly blocked from purchasing the nomination form for the national chairman position. He claimed the National Secretary, Senator Samuel Anyanwu, and National Organising Secretary, Umar Bature, told him they had no information on the forms.

Since then, a series of conflicting court rulings have deepened the crisis:

• An Oyo State High Court adjourned ruling on a jurisdictional challenge in a suit questioning the legality of the planned convention but allowed preparations to continue through an interim order.
• The Federal High Court in Abuja later issued a final order stopping the PDP from holding the convention and directed that Lamido must be allowed to purchase his nomination form.

Amid the conflicting judgments, former Senate President Bukola Saraki urged the party to suspend the convention and appoint a caretaker committee to restore confidence.

However, PDP governors and key stakeholders who met on Thursday in Abuja insisted the convention would proceed as scheduled, describing November 15 and 16 as “irrevocable dates.”

Delegates have already arrived in Ibadan, where the Lekan Salami Stadium has been fully decorated ahead of the convention.