The faction of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) loyal to the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, on Monday took control of the party’s national secretariat, Wadata Plaza, Abuja, ahead of a parallel meeting planned by another bloc of the party.
The move comes before the meeting scheduled for the same venue by the faction that held its national convention in Ibadan over the weekend.
The Taminu Turaki-led National Working Committee (NWC), elected at the controversial Ibadan convention, had fixed its inaugural meeting with stakeholders for 10 a.m. at the secretariat. At the same time, the Abdulrahman-led faction of the NWC summoned emergency meetings of the National Executive Committee (NEC) and the Board of Trustees (BoT) for 11 a.m. and 2 p.m., respectively.
According to NAN, the factional National Chairman, Abdulrahman Mohammed, arrived early at the secretariat building, which had previously been under lock and key.
Security presence at the premises was also heightened, as NAN reports that armed operatives were deployed to the complex. The personnel, drawn from the Mobile Police Force, the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), and the Department of State Services (DSS), mounted positions at the entrance gates and other strategic points within and around the premises.
Patrol vehicles were stationed along adjoining roads as part of efforts to prevent any breakdown of law and order, with both factions asserting control over offices within the complex.
Suspended National Secretary Sen. Samuel Anyanwu had already accessed the secretariat, where accreditation was underway ahead of their 103rd NEC meeting. The Turaki faction had not yet arrived. Meanwhile, anti-Turaki protesters held placards reading “No to Turaki” and “Turaki must go,” dancing to drum beats at the entrance.
Speaking with journalists before the BoT meeting, Anyanwu maintained that the security deployment was routine for major PDP gatherings. He stated: “Anytime we’re having a BoT meeting or NEC meeting, we usually invite the security because of the people who are around, so they don’t embarrass our members.
“So, usually we write to all the security agencies for them to give us security to protect the office. That’s why you see the police here. It’s not the first time.
“Well, first of all, I wrote to all the security agencies on the 14th of November, 2025, that we are going to have a BoT at the NEC meeting, the largest NEC meeting here.
“I wrote to INEC as well, which they have managed, and they have been on the news, and they have put it on television and in newspapers.
“I’m the National Secretary of the party. My office is still running until Dec. 8. So, undoubtedly, I’m doing my function.
“I want the BoT acting chairman who is here, who has members of the board of trustees who are here, who have come for their meeting.
“You can see there’s no problem. So if we start our meeting and they come here to disrupt our meeting, they become intruders, because we’re already here.
“I don’t see anybody sensible enough to come and disrupt a meeting that’s going on. If anybody wants to meet, they can meet anywhere. It’s allowed, but we’re here.”
Reacting to his suspension at the Ibadan convention, Anyanwu dismissed the action as baseless, saying:
“On what premise are you expelling us? What platform are you using to expel us? The convention that never held?
“Every communication to INEC for any congress/convention, I must sign it. I never communicated any letter to INEC for any convention. So, there was no convention. As a matter of fact, there was no convention anywhere.
“It’s very clear that any convention must be monitored and supervised by INEC. These things were not done.”
He added that the required number of delegates was not present at the Ibadan gathering.
“Even the 17 states they said came for that jamboree, we had people who were picked by the roadside and given PDP uniforms to occupy some state podiums,” he said.
(NAN)