The planned reopening of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) national secretariat at Wadata Plaza, Abuja, by a caretaker committee backed by the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, has sparked concerns over possible confrontations.
The reopening, reportedly scheduled for Monday with police intervention, has heightened anxiety within the party amid an ongoing leadership crisis and competing claims over control of the PDP’s national structure.
Speaking on Thursday after a closed-door meeting at the headquarters of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in Abuja, the national secretary of the Wike-backed PDP faction, Senator Samuel Anyanwu, announced that the faction would take over the national secretariat on Monday.
Anyanwu maintained that the caretaker committee set up by his faction has the authority to resume operations at the party’s headquarters, insisting that all necessary steps had been taken to ensure a smooth reopening.
The development, however, has deepened divisions within the opposition party, as the crisis over the control of the national secretariat stems from a prolonged power struggle between rival factions. One faction is led by Tanimu Turaki, SAN, and is reportedly backed by several PDP governors, including Governor Seyi Makinde of Oyo State and Governor Bala Mohammed of Bauchi State. The other faction is the 13-member caretaker committee aligned with Wike.
Turaki’s faction is laying claim to the legitimacy of the PDP national convention held in Ibadan on November 15, 2025. However, that convention was later overturned by a ruling of the Federal High Court sitting in Ibadan, Oyo State, further complicating the leadership dispute.
With both factions holding firm to their positions, party members and observers have expressed concern that the planned reopening of the secretariat under police protection could trigger clashes and worsen the internal crisis within the PDP.
