The crisis rocking the Peoples Democratic Party has taken a legal turn as the faction led by Kabiru Turaki has approached the Federal High Court in Abuja over the sealing of the party’s national secretariat and other offices across the country. The faction wants the court to order the Inspector-General of Police and the Nigeria Police Force to immediately remove all barricades, unseal the party’s headquarters in Abuja, and vacate all PDP offices nationwide.
Court documents show that the request was filed through a Motion on Notice by the faction’s lawyers, led by Chief Chris Uche. The application asked the court to issue a mandatory order directing the police to withdraw from the party’s properties without delay.
The PDP national secretariat was sealed in November after violent clashes between two rival factions of the party, one loyal to Turaki and the other aligned with the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike. The situation became tense when both groups scheduled meetings at the same venue on the same day, leading to police intervention. Tear gas was reportedly used before the premises were locked and surrounded with barbed wire.
Following the closure, the Turaki-led National Working Committee could not hold its planned inaugural meeting at the secretariat. Turaki had emerged as national chairman during the party’s national convention held in Ibadan in November. However, the Wike-aligned faction rejected the convention, insisting that it violated existing court orders that restrained the party from holding the exercise.
Before the convention, two judges of the Federal High Court in Abuja had issued orders stopping the PDP from conducting its planned November convention. Despite this, a High Court in Ibadan later granted an ex parte order allowing the event to go ahead. At the convention, the party announced the expulsion of Wike, the national secretary Samuel Anyanwu, a factional chairman, and others over alleged anti-party activities.
In the fresh suit, the PDP, Turaki, and the chairman of the party’s Board of Trustees, Adolphus Wabara, asked the court to stop the police from further involvement in the party’s internal affairs. They also requested an order preventing the police from sealing or occupying any PDP office while the case is ongoing.
An affidavit supporting the suit was sworn by the party’s national secretary, who stated that the elective convention held in Ibadan produced new national officers and that the electoral commission was informed shortly after. He explained that the party only notified security agencies of a stakeholders’ meeting and requested protection, but instead, police officers reportedly stormed the secretariat, fired tear gas, and sealed the premises.
According to the affidavit, party officials, staff, and visiting governors were denied access to the building, and the police action was carried out without a valid court order. The party argued that the continued closure has disrupted its administration, planning, and preparation for future elections.
The plaintiffs maintained that the police acted beyond their powers and in a manner that appeared partisan. They urged the court to grant their requests, arguing that the damage caused by the closure cannot be solved by compensation and that justice would best be served by reopening the party’s offices.
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