The Nigeria Police Force has sealed the national secretariat of the Peoples Democratic Party at Wadata Plaza in Abuja, following violent confrontations on Tuesday between warring factions that left the opposition party’s headquarters in chaos.
The closure, effected on Wednesday, November 19, came after a dramatic showdown the previous day that saw security operatives fire teargas to disperse rival party members engaged in physical altercations at the facility.
The violent encounter pitted supporters of the newly elected National Chairman Saminu Turaki against members loyal to the Federal Capital Territory Minister, Nyesom Wike, in a confrontation that has laid bare the depth of divisions tearing the opposition party apart.
During Tuesday’s melee, Governors Seyi Makinde of Oyo State and Bala Mohammed of Bauchi State, who had accompanied Turaki to the secretariat, were reportedly among those affected when security forces deployed teargas to control the situation.
The chaos unfolded as both factions attempted to hold parallel meetings at the same venue, with the Turaki-led group seeking to convene for their inaugural session while the Wike-aligned camp organized their own National Executive Committee gathering.
In the aftermath of Tuesday’s confrontation, the factional National Executive Committee loyal to Wike moved to ratify the expulsion of several prominent party figures, including Governors Makinde, Mohammed, and Dauda Lawal of Zamfara State.
Also expelled were former Chairman of the PDP Board of Trustees, Senator Adolphus Wabara, former National Vice Chairman Chief Bode George, and the newly elected National Chairman Turaki himself, despite his Senior Advocate of Nigeria status.
The Wike faction’s decision represents retaliation for actions taken at last Saturday’s national convention held in Ibadan, Oyo State, where the rival camp suspended Wike and ten other party stalwarts on allegations of anti-party activities.
The Ibadan convention, which produced the Turaki-led executive, accused Wike’s bloc of deliberate attempts to “destabilise the party structure” ahead of planned nationwide reorganization efforts meant to rebuild the opposition party.
Tuesday’s dramatic scenes at Wadata Plaza saw both factions arriving with their supporters, determined to assert control over the party’s administrative nerve center and establish their legitimacy as the authentic PDP leadership.
Security operatives deployed to maintain order found themselves overwhelmed as supporters from both camps engaged in heated arguments, pushing, shoving, and general commotion that threatened to spiral completely out of control.
The decision to deploy teargas came as tensions reached fever pitch, with the chemical agents affecting not just ordinary party members but also serving state governors who had come to demonstrate support for their respective factions.
The police closure of the secretariat on Wednesday effectively prevents either faction from accessing the facility, creating an enforced stalemate while authorities presumably assess how to manage the escalating internal party warfare.
The sealing of the PDP headquarters represents an embarrassing development for Nigeria’s main opposition party, which now finds itself unable to conduct business from its own national secretariat due to internal conflicts that have descended into physical violence.
Legal battles are already underway in various courts, with both factions seeking judicial pronouncements on the legitimacy of their respective claims to party leadership, adding another layer of complexity to the multifaceted crisis.
Political observers note that the PDP’s internal implosion comes at a particularly inopportune time, with the 2027 electoral cycle approaching and many Nigerians looking to the opposition as a potential alternative to the ruling All Progressives Congress.
The party’s inability to resolve its leadership question peacefully, instead resorting to parallel conventions, mutual expulsions, and physical confrontations requiring police intervention, raises serious questions about its readiness to present itself as a viable governing option.
For now, the sealed PDP secretariat at Wadata Plaza stands as a physical symbol of the opposition party’s dysfunction—a once-powerful political machine now paralyzed by internal warfare between factions more interested in destroying each other than in presenting a united front against the government they claim to oppose.
