CYRIL MBAH, Abuja
A faction of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) loyal to the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Minister, Nyesom Wike, on Tuesday drove out workers and took over the Wadata House National Secretariat of the party located at Wuse Zone 5 of the Federal Capital Territory, barring the Makinde faction led by newly elected National Chairman, Barrister Kabiru Turaki from gaining entry into the premises.
Members of the Wike faction, led by its National Chairman, Alhaji Abdulrahman Mohammed, stormed the secretariat building with thugs early Tuesday morning, escorted by truckloads of heavily armed police personnel, who also took strategic positions at entry points to the secretariat and prevented access into the building.
The Wike faction had announced in a notice on Monday that it planned to hold its Board of Trustees (BoT) and National Executive Committee (NEC) meetings at the secretariat.
Signs of growing tension were noticed late Monday evening when the two rival Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) factions insisted on scheduling counter meetings for Tuesday at the party secretariat, even as the newly elected PDP National Chairman, Barrister Kabiru Turaki, SAN, petitioned the police and asked for protection for the success of his group’s meeting.
Announcing the decision of his faction to hold the inaugural meeting of its National Working Committee (NWC) at the National Secretariat, Turaki, who spoke with journalists at the Federal Capital Territory Police Command Headquarters, said he informed the Commissioner of Police, Mr.Miller Dantawaye, ahead of the meeting to provide proper security for the attendees.
“We came here to have an interface with the Commissioner of Police regarding our inaugural NWC meeting, to which we have invited our governors, our National Assembly members and our founding fathers,” Turaki explained.
Turaki declared that the FCT Minister and his loyalists have been expelled and have ceased to be members of the PDP, pointing out that their expulsion was properly ratified by the just-concluded national convention of the PDP held in Ibadan, Oyo State.
According to Turaki, “It’s the national convention that expelled them. So, they are no longer members of the party.
We have reported their moves to the police, and the police have assured us of adequate protection during our meeting.”
The newly elected PDP national chairman reaffirmed his determination to reclaim the secretariat and exercise the mandate of his office.
“We are holding the meeting at the PDP National Secretariat. Any other persons trying to occupy the secretariat would be doing so illegally.
We did not invite the police to lock up our secretariat.
“We will go there and defend our lives, our property, and our party.
We are prepared to lay down our lives to defend our party,” Turaki concluded.
However, as the situation deteriorated, the Police fired teargas to disperse the crowd that gathered when members of the Makinde faction also arrived at the National Secretariat and attempted to forcefully gain entrance into the building.
At the middle of the chaos, the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, arrived the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) secretariat to participate in the emergency meeting of the National Executive Committee (NEC) and Board of Trustees (BoT) of his faction, organised by embattled National Secretary, Senator Samuel Anyanwu.
The Wike faction, chaired by Abdulrahman Mohammed, held its BoT meeting at 11 a.m., with the NEC scheduled for 2 p.m. at the same venue.
The group emphasised that attendance was mandatory, noting that “crucial matters” would be addressed during the sessions.
Heavy security presence was provided within and outside the PDP National Secretariat premises, and the choatic situation forced the Makinde faction to postpone its planned meeting until Wednesday, November 19, 2015.
For a better society
Follow us across our platforms:
Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/championnewsonline/
Facebook – https://web.facebook.com/championnewsonline
LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/company/champion-newspapers-limited/
https://x.com/championnewsng/
You can also like and comment on our YouTube videos.
https://youtu.be/QIBfD1tT80w?si=R4Qf3so2LxYu3GC2
