The Nigeria Police Force has unsealed the national secretariat of the Peoples Democratic Party at Wadata Plaza in Wuse Zone 5, Abuja, as well as the party's Legacy House in Maitama, handing physical and administrative control of both properties to the Nyesom Wike-aligned faction of the party led by National Chairman Abdulrahman Mohammed Takushara and National Secretary Senator Samuel Anyanwu, in compliance with court orders.
The development, confirmed on Saturday in a statement signed by the PDP National Publicity Secretary, Jungudo Haruna Mohammed, brings to an end a tense five-month standoff that had seen the party's national headquarters sealed and inaccessible to members, journalists and party officials since November 2025, when violent clashes erupted between rival factions at the Wadata Plaza premises. The sealing of the secretariat had severely disrupted the administrative operations of the party and deepened the bitter internal crisis that has consumed the PDP since a national convention held in Ibadan in November 2025 produced a parallel leadership that neither faction was willing to recognise.
The crisis pitted the Wike-aligned caretaker leadership, which emerged from the Abuja national convention recognised by the Federal High Court, against the Tanimu Turaki-led faction whose National Working Committee was elected at the Ibadan convention, which courts have since described as discredited. Following a Federal High Court directive ordering the police to unseal the properties and restore them to the party's duly recognised leadership, the police on Saturday moved to implement the order and handed over both Wadata Plaza and Legacy House to Takushara and Anyanwu.
The Wike-backed faction was effusive in its response, describing the unsealing as a demonstration of respect for constitutional order and due process and commending the police for their professionalism. The party warned that it would not tolerate any attempt to cause obstruction, disruption or breach of peace at the secretariat, adding that security agencies had been placed on alert to take action against any violators. It also called on aggrieved members of the party to sheathe their swords and close ranks in the collective interest of the PDP. "This positive development reassures members that the recent challenges confronting the Party have been effectively resolved. We therefore call on all aggrieved members to sheath their swords and embrace unity in the collective interest of the Party," the statement read. Special appreciation was extended to FCT Minister Nyesom Wike, described in the statement as the party's national leader, whose support was acknowledged as invaluable throughout the period of internal turbulence.
The Turaki faction, however, took a starkly different view of the development, condemning the police action as partisan and describing it as state-sponsored persecution. The faction's spokesman, Ini Ememobong, argued that the Federal High Court judgment relied upon by the police had since been appealed and that the Court of Appeal had been notified, making the enforcement of the lower court's order potentially contemptuous of the appellate process. He questioned the impartiality of the police, accusing the force of consistently acting in a manner that betrayed its support for the Wike-backed faction, and urged party members to remain peaceful and refrain from any conduct that could lead to a breakdown of public order. The unsealing of the secretariat is therefore likely to intensify rather than resolve the legal battles between the two factions, with the Court of Appeal proceedings set to determine the ultimate question of which group holds legitimate authority over Nigeria's main opposition party.
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