A fresh wave of political tension swept through the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) on Tuesday as its newly elected national chairman, Dr. Kabiru Tanimu Turaki (SAN), announced that the party leadership under him had successfully taken back control of the national secretariat in Abuja after a dramatic confrontation with expelled members.
Addressing journalists and party stakeholders at the PDP headquarters shortly after calm was restored, Turaki said the leadership had “taken back the party and its mandate” following an intense seven-hour standoff triggered by efforts of expelled National Secretary Senator Samuel Anyanwu and his supporters to disrupt a scheduled National Working Committee (NWC) meeting.
According to Turaki, the group stormed Wadata Plaza with armed thugs in an attempt to seize the secretariat. He alleged that the action was carried out with the support of the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike.
“For the past seven hours, Nigerians are living witnesses to the struggle we’ve been engaged in with those renegade members expelled at our national convention in Ibadan,” Turaki said. “They came here with armed thugs, just as we predicted, to disrupt our meetings. But God, so kind, we were able to contain them effectively.”
Turaki further accused Wike of personally leading the attackers, calling the move “a brazen assault on democracy,” and urged President Bola Tinubu to intervene.
“The President should call his minister to order. The kind of conduct the Minister of the FCT engaged in this morning is unbecoming. How can a serving minister lead thugs to disrupt a legally arranged meeting?” he questioned.
He alleged that the attackers were accompanied by security operatives who fired more than 50 tear gas canisters at party members. Turaki said the restraint shown by PDP leaders prevented the situation from escalating into full-blown violence.
“If we had not exercised restraint, there would have been bloodshed,” he stated. “We were tear-gassed, more than 50 canisters were fired at us, but we remained relentless.”
Reaffirming the PDP’s commitment to peace and democratic principles, Turaki vowed that the party would not succumb to intimidation.
“We will defend democracy. We are the vanguards of democracy, and we are prepared to lay down our lives to nurture this nascent democracy our forefathers fought hard to give us,” he said.
He also called on the international community to take note of what he described as “a coordinated attempt to stifle democratic opposition” in Nigeria.
Turaki praised the presence and composure of PDP governors, lawmakers, former ministers, and other stakeholders who stood by the leadership throughout the confrontation. He said their support demonstrated that the PDP remains peaceful and law-abiding.
“But that does not mean that if people try to touch our integrity or our lives, we will not defend ourselves within the limits of our constitutional rights,” he added.
The violent disruption has deepened the ongoing crisis within the PDP, raising questions about the stability of the opposition party as it navigates internal rivalries and external pressures.
