PDP Crisis: Wike, Makinde, Bala Mohammed clash over control of party secretariat

There was a heated altercation on Tuesday between the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, Oyo State Governor, Seyi Makinde, and Chairperson of the PDP Governors Forum and Bauchi State Governor, Bala Mohammed, at the PDP national secretariat, Abuja.

The confrontation occurred as the three leaders attempted to access the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) national secretariat in Abuja for separate National Executive Committee (NEC) meetings scheduled by the party’s two rival factions.

Governors Makinde and Mohammed had attended the party’s national convention in Ibadan over the weekend, where Kabiru Turaki emerged as the party’s new national Chairperson.

The convention expelled Mr Wike, his faction’s national Chairperson, Mohammed Abdulrahman, and nine others from the party.

Mr Wike and the faction, however, rejected the convention and Mr Turaki’s election due to a court orders that halted the exercise.

Both factions, the Turaki-led leadership and the Abdulrahman-led group had fixed their NEC and Board of Trustees meetings for Tuesday at the party’s national secretariat.

Tension escalated when the three leaders arrived at the secretariat separately. Police fired teargas repeatedly to control crowds and prevent supporters and officials from storming the premises.

Messrs Makinde and Mohammed, who arrived earlier, used their vehicles to block Mr Wike’s convoy from entering the compound, prompting a surge of supporters and intensifying the chaos.

Despite the commotion, Mr Wike eventually gained entry into the compound but remained inside his vehicle as the two governors insisted he must vacate the premises.

The governors subsequently approached the Commissioner of Police, FCT Command, Dantawaye Miller, urging him to order Mr Wike to leave.

“Why is he here? He (Wike) entered here illegally,” Mr Mohammed said angrily.

The CP, however, appealed for calm, stating that both sides needed to exit for the police to secure the facility. He explained that he could not ask Mr Wike to leave because the governors’ convoys were blocking the exit route.

“We want the cars to move, if that is done, I tell him (Wike) to move out” the CP explained.

In response, Mr Mohammed said “Let me tell you, we are not here today because of PDP. We are here to fight for this democracy. If he (Wike) leaves, we will leave. That is it.”

Messrs Makinde and Mohammed appeared teary-eyed from the teargas fired intermittently at the scene.

As of 12:19 p.m., neither side had backed down, leaving the party secretariat in a tense standoff.