The national secretariat of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Wadata Plaza, Abuja, was under lock and heavy police presence on Monday, deepening tensions ahead of an emergency meeting convened by a faction of the party.
When our correspondent visited the headquarters, the main gate was firmly shut.
A police patrol van was stationed at the entrance, while armed operatives were seen sitting inside the compound, preventing entry and offering no explanation for the blockade.
“Sorry, we can’t attend to you now because this place is under lock,” the man at the gate told our correspondent.
The development comes hours after a faction of the PDP, led by Abdulrahman Mohammed, summoned an emergency session of the party’s National Executive Committee (NEC) and Board of Trustees (BoT) for Tuesday—a move that has rattled the already fractured opposition party.
In a notice issued by Samuel Anyanwu, a close ally of the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, the BoT is scheduled to meet at 11 a.m., while the NEC is expected to convene at 2 p.m. at the locked Wadata Plaza.
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The invitation, which Anyanwu signed in his capacity as national secretary, insisted that attendance is “mandatory” for all members, stressing that “critical issues affecting the party” will be discussed.
Tuesday’s gathering would mark the 103rd emergency NEC meeting of the PDP and comes at a time the party is battling renewed internal fractures, competing claims to leadership, and the aftermath of its controversial national convention in Ibadan—an event boycotted by the Wike-led bloc.
It remains unclear whether the meetings will go ahead as scheduled, given the closure of the secretariat and the uncertainty surrounding who ordered the lockdown.
Party officials contacted on Monday declined to comment, while police operatives on the ground refused to speak with journalists.
The PDP, once Nigeria’s dominant political force, has been embroiled in escalating internal battles over control, legitimacy, and direction—tensions that analysts say could threaten its ability to function as a cohesive opposition ahead of the 2027 elections.
