A more intense political face-off is brewing to unfold in the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), between the now expelled faction of the FCT minister, Nyesom Wike, and that of the newly elected PDP National Chairman, Kabiru Tanimu Turaki, after both factions revealed plans to hold their respective BOT and NEC meetings this Tuesday morning.
The group led by Mohammed Abdulrahman, the now-sacked National Chairman who supports Wike, has declared that its National Executive Committee and Board of Trustees meetings will be held on Tuesday, November 18, at the PDP National Secretariat’s NEC Hall in Wadata Plaza, Abuja.
According to a notice issued by factional National Secretary Sam Anyanwu, members are expected to attend mandatorily as “attendance is very important as crucial matters will be discussed and addressed.”
The announcement follows the national convention convened in Ibadan by the faction loyal to Governor Seyi Makinde, which led to the expulsion of Wike, former Ekiti governor Ayo Fayose, Samuel Anyanwu, and Dan Orbih.
Following this, Kabiru Tanimu Turaki, the recently elected PDP National Chairman, stated that his group will have its first National Executive Committee meeting in the same Wadata Plaza today in spite of the tension.
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He reiterated that he would not back down from assuming leadership of the secretariat in an interview with reporters on Monday following the submission of a petition at the Nigeria Police Force headquarters in Garki, Abuja.
“Our offices are now open, we are going there. We will have the offices open, we will get in there and begin to perform the functions for which we were elected,” he said.
Turaki stated that the police had been notified and had assured him of protection. “I have assured the Commissioner of Police of the FCT that while we will ensure there is no breach of peace on our part, we will go there prepared to defend ourselves and our integrity as Nigerians. we are prepared to do. We are ready to lay down our lives.”
He confirmed that the NEC meeting would begin by ten o’clock on Tuesday. “Our meeting is at ten. We shall be there unfailingly. I, as the National Chairman of PDP, will be leading from the front, not from the rear,” he said.
North west chapters split
State chapters like Kano, Katsina, and Jigawa have been significantly affected by the internal strife.
Yusuf Ado Kibiya, the chairman of the PDP in Kano, accused the Wike group of purposefully inciting trouble.
In an interview with news correspondents, Kibiya Said “what the Wike group is doing is simply an attempt to cause confusion in the party because they are not even PDP members anymore.”
He argued that external forces were backing the faction. “The government is the one funding them so they can cause problems in the party,” he said.
He further insisted that the group should approach the courts instead of creating disorder.
“If they have any grievance, they should go to court to seek justice, because the path they have chosen will not lead anywhere.”
Meanwhile in Jigawa, Umar Kyari, the party’s spokesperson in Jigawa, rejected both groups as illegitimate. He said that neither Wike’s nor Turaki’s camp was authorised by law to run out of the national secretariat.
Similarly, the Katsina PDP Chieftain Ambassador Umar Jibril insisted that Wike has long ceased to qualify as a PDP member because he accepted a federal appointment under the APC government.
“Wike has become a danger to this party. I have never heard of a situation where someone serves in a government formed by another party and still claims to belong to the opposition party,” he said.
He added that Wike’s political manoeuvres were destabilising the PDP. “What Wike is doing is a serious threat to democracy, not only to the PDP but also to other parties like ADC, LP and others. He has caused them internal crises,” he warned.
The PDP is facing one of its most dramatic clashes to date as both factions are ready to storm the same national secretariat for different gatherings on the same day.
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