Tension as factions battle for PDP secretariat

THE two factions claiming the leadership of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, are primed for a battle for the control of Wadata, Abuja National Secretariat of the party, today.

While the newly elected National Chairman, Alhaji Tanimu Turaki, SAN, has fixed the inaugural meeting of the new National Working Committee, NWC, at the secretariat, the faction loyal to the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, Abuja Minister, Mr Nyesom Wike, has also scheduled an emergency Board of Trustees, BoT, and National Executive Committee, NEC, meeting at the same venue.

This was as former Niger State Governor, Muazu Babangida Aliyu, likened the expulsion of some prominent members of PDP to a surgical procedure carried out to remove a cancerous tumor to give the patient a new lease of life.

Police briefed as Turaki moves to reclaim PDP secretariat

Meanwhile, Turaki said yesterday that the party had formally notified the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, police command of its plan to reclaim and hold its inaugural NWC, meeting at the PDP National Secretariat, Wadata Plaza, today.

Turaki disclosed this after he led other members of the newly elected NWC to a meeting with the FCT Commissioner of Police.

The visit, he explained, was part of the preparations for their first official meeting since the national elective convention in Ibadan.

The session is expected to bring together major stakeholders, including governors, National Assembly members, Board of Trustees, BoT, members, state chairmen, and founding leaders of the party.

“We are going to have the inaugural National Working Committee meeting of our party, the People’s Democratic Party, tomorrow.

“At this meeting, we have invited all our stakeholders and founding fathers. We’ve invited all our governors and members of the National Assembly, members of the Board of Trustees, our State Chairmen, and other critical stakeholders,” he said.

The PDP chairman said the leadership reached out to the police following what he described as attempts by ‘expelled’ members to circulate notices of BoT and NEC meetings on social media, insisting those behind the moves no longer have any authority within the party.

“Now, we have seen things flying in the social media, a purported notice of BOT and NEC meeting given by people who, for all intents and purposes, are no longer members of this party,” he said. He emphasised that the National Convention remains the highest decision-making body of the PDP and had already ruled on the status of those individuals.

“Next to God, in the management of political parties is the National Convention. The decision taken in a National Convention overrides every other decision that has been taken by any organ of a party.

“Our National Convention has taken a decision to expel these elements from the party. And so, they are no longer members of our party,” Turaki stated.

He said the party drew the police’s attention to the activities of the expelled members to forestall any disruption on Tuesday, stressing that the PDP leadership wants peace to prevail as it prepares to resume operations at its headquarters.

“As leaders, more than any other person, we want peace to be sustained. This democracy that our leaders, our forefathers, have sacrificed their lives to bring about to this level, we shall be ready to also give our own life to sustain this democracy,” he said.

Responding to questions about the status of Wadata Plaza, which has recently been under lock, Turaki maintained that the PDP would return to the secretariat unhindered.

“We are holding the meeting in our National Secretariat, which is the Wadata House, and anybody that is sitting there without our consent and permission is an interloper.

“We are going there, we’ll have the offices opened, we’ll get in there, and then begin to perform the functions for which we’ve been elected,” he said. Turaki explained that while the PDP would avoid confrontation, its leaders would not shy away from defending themselves if threatened.

“I have assured the Commissioner of Police of the FCT that while we will ensure that no breach of the peace occurs, we will go there prepared to defend ourselves and our integrity as Nigerians because the Nigerian Constitution has given us the right to defend our persons, our lives, our properties.

“And let me reiterate again for the avoidance of doubt: to defend our party, to defend this nascent democracy, we are prepared to lay down our lives,” he said.

According to him, the NWC will arrive at the secretariat by 10 a.m. for the meeting.

“Our meeting is at 10 a.m. tomorrow. Circulars have gone out. We shall be there unfailingly. I, as the National Chairman of PDP, will be leading from the front, not from the rear,” he said.

Turaki added that the FCT Commissioner of Police had promised to provide adequate security to ensure a peaceful exercise.

“The CP has given us assurance that they will do everything it takes to ensure that there is no breakdown of law and order. We hope that the police will make sure that they give us all the ample protection that we’re entitled to under the law, and that assurance we’ve got. So, we shall be there,” he said.

Wike’s faction holds emergency BoT, NEC meetings today

Howver, the faction of the party loyal to the FCT has scheduled BoT and NEC meetings today at NEC Hall, PDP National Secretariat, Wadata Plaza, Abuja.

While the BoT meeting will be held at 11am, that of the NEC is fixed for 2pm.

In a special announcement inviting members to the 103rd emergency NEC meeting, National Secretary, Senator Samuel Anyanwu, who was expelled at the Ibadan convention, said “attendance is very important as crucial matters will be discussed and addressed.”

We’ve removed cancer troubling PDP —Aliyu

Aliyu said this while speaking during the 6th Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe Annual Award Lecture, held in Abuja, late on Sunday.

Recall that a faction of the PDP, under the leadership of Tanimu Turaki, announced the expulsion of Wike, the party’s National Secretary, Samuel Anyanwu, among others during the party’s National Convention held in Ibadan, Oyo State, last weekend. The Wike’s camp has since dismissed the expulsions as a joke taken too far and has fixed emergency BoT and NEC meetings, today, to dissect burning issues in the party.

According to Aliyu, Nigeria can ill-afford to be reduced to a one party state because our diversity, which has been our strength, would be adversely affected.

No way for one-party state

He said: “Believe me, if we make the mistake of creating a one-party state in Nigeria, we will pay for it.

“So it’s good that we give an alternative to people, but that does not say that if people decide to go one way, we must really accept it.’’

There was a time when PDP had up to 28 governors in this country and nobody cried foul. But one can cry foul when you see your governor has been taken away either by bribe or by intimidation and the constitution of the country says, ‘you cannot go to another party with the mandate of another party’ and yet we are not following that rule.

Turaki vows to reconcile aggrieved PDP members

Ex-Governor Aliyu spoke as new PDP National Chairman, Turaki vowed to reconcile aggrieved members, declaring that he was ready to kneel to do so.

However, Turaki, said he would sit idly and watch internal saboteurs undermine the party ahead of the 2027 general elections.

Speaking in his first interview with the BBC Hausa Service after emerging as chairman, Turaki said the time had come to reunite the PDP family and reposition the party to reclaim power.

According to him, the PDP leadership would embark on a comprehensive reconciliation drive targeting all categories of aggrieved members — including those who felt sidelined, those offended without cause, and those who withdrew from party activities.

“The first thing we will do is to reach out to every member of our party — those who are angry because their feelings were hurt, those were offended without genuine reason, and even those who sat back watching events unfold. We will also approach those who left,” he said.

The chairman added that the party was ready to apologise where necessary.

“Anyone who deserves an apology will receive it. If we must kneel to plead and restore our democracy, we will do so because democracy must be protected,” Turaki stated.

Turaki’s emergence comes amid a deepening leadership tussle within the PDP, with a parallel faction insisting it remains the legitimate leadership of the party. Analysts fear the crisis may prove difficult to resolve, especially with some governors distancing themselves from decisions taken at the Ibadan convention — including the expulsion of Wike, and other party stalwarts.

Turaki, however, dismissed any suggestion that the renegade faction has legitimacy.

“It is impossible for a National Working Committee of 21 members to sanction three members for anti-party activities, only for those same three to claim they have suspended 18 others. Those people have already been dismissed. They cannot be indulged,” he insisted.

While emphasising the readiness of the party to reconcile, Turaki made it clear that reconciliation would only be pursued with genuine party members and not with individuals who persistently undermine the PDP.

“We will seek peace with those who want peace. But how do you reconcile with someone who carries weapons, attacks the party daily, and insults its leaders? Such a person is not ready for reconciliation,” he declared.

VANGUARD.