ABUJA — In a dramatic escalation of Nigeria’s deepening opposition crisis, heavily armed police operatives on Wednesday morning sealed off the national headquarters of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) at Wadata Plaza, erecting towering barbed-wire barriers across the entrance to thwart any further incursions by warring factions.
The lockdown, which arrived scarcely 24 hours after a chaotic Tuesday showdown that saw tear gas canisters flying and prominent governors scrambling for cover, has left party loyalists stunned and the secretariat’s gates padlocked under heavy guard. Sources within the FCT Police Command, speaking on condition of anonymity, attributed the order to “higher authorities” aimed at averting a potential bloodbath, though official confirmation remains elusive as calls to the command’s spokesperson went unanswered.
Eyewitnesses described a tense dawn operation: Around 7:30 a.m., convoys of patrol vans descended on the premises, evacuating lingering staff and journalists before unfurling coils of razor-sharp wire that now snake across the main entrance like a fortress moat. Nearby Legacy House, housing the PDP National Convention Planning Committee, was similarly cordoned, effectively paralyzing all party operations. “This is to prevent a repeat of yesterday’s madness,” one officer muttered to reporters, gesturing to the fortified blockade that has transformed the once-bustling hub into a no-man’s-land.
Tuesday’s melee at Wadata Plaza marked the ugly zenith of a schism ignited by the PDP’s fractious national convention in Ibadan last Saturday, where SAN Tanimu Turaki emerged as the new national chairman under the Damagum faction, promptly expelling high-profile dissidents including Federal Capital Territory Minister Nyesom Wike and his allies. 9 In retaliation, Wike’s camp—led by acting chairman Mohammed Abdulrahman—convened a parallel National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting, ratifying counter-expulsions of Turaki, Governors Seyi Makinde (Oyo), Bala Mohammed (Bauchi), and Dauda Lawal (Zamfara), alongside PDP elders like Senator Adolphus Wabara and Chief Bode George.
The powder keg ignited when Turaki’s supporters, bolstered by Makinde and Bala Mohammed, stormed the secretariat for an inaugural NWC session, only to clash with Wike loyalists already in possession. Fists flew, chants of “Thieves!” and “Traitors!” echoed, and within minutes, anti-riot police unleashed volleys of tear gas, forcing the governors—coughing and shielded by aides—to beat a hasty retreat. Minor injuries were reported, but no arrests followed immediately, with both sides trading accusations of thuggery and anti-party sabotage.
Flanked by his gubernatorial allies post-escape, Turaki decried the violence as “Wike’s orchestration,” vowing to defend the Ibadan convention’s legitimacy through the courts—a pledge echoed by Makinde, who framed the turmoil as a “fight for democracy’s soul” rather than mere party squabbles. “It may get worse before it gets better, but we won’t back down,” the Oyo governor declared defiantly. 10 On the flip side, Wike’s faction dismissed the interlopers as “expelled impostors,” with Abdulrahman citing their “disregard for court judgments” as grounds for the purge.
The barbed-wire siege has thwarted Turaki’s rescheduled NWC meeting, leaving PDP members in a state of suspended animation and social media ablaze with outrage. “Police sealing opposition HQ while bandits roam free? This is how one-party rule starts,” fumed one activist on X, capturing a swell of accusations that the lockdown smacks of federal meddling under President Bola Tinubu’s APC administration. 0 8 Party insiders whisper of impending lawsuits from both camps, with the Wike group eyeing an Abuja Federal High Court injunction and Turaki’s allies banking on Oyo State rulings to affirm their grip.
As shadows lengthen over the deserted plaza, the PDP—once Nigeria’s juggernaut opposition—teeters on the brink of implosion, its 2027 ambitions hostage to a feud that has spilled from courtrooms to the streets. With the secretariat now a symbol of stasis, the question looms: Will cooler heads prevail, or is this the death knell for the party’s fractured unity?
