The deepening crisis within the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) took another dramatic turn on Monday when security operatives sealed off the party’s National Secretariat at Wadata Plaza and the Legacy House in Abuja.
The move came just hours after Alhaji Mohammed Abdulrahman assumed office as the factional Acting National Chairman, intensifying confusion and anxiety within the opposition party.
Heavily armed police officers arrived at Wadata Plaza in the early hours, ordering staff and journalists to vacate before locking the gates and positioning patrol vehicles around the premises.
Not long after, another team of policemen stormed the Legacy House in Maitama, the operational base of the party’s National Convention Organising Committee, and similarly shut it down.
Reporters who tried to access the Legacy House were turned away. Officers on duty simply said they had “standing instructions from above” to prevent anyone from entering.
The sudden security clampdown sent shockwaves through the party’s ranks, coming barely hours after Abdulrahman’s controversial emergence.
His assumption of office, backed by a section of the National Working Committee (NWC) loyal to a former South-South governor, has widened existing rifts and deepened mistrust between the feuding factions.
Party insiders told reporters that the heavy security presence was a precautionary move to prevent possible clashes between supporters of both camps.
“There were intelligence reports suggesting that each side planned to occupy the secretariat simultaneously,” one senior party source explained.
Abdulrahman, who insists his leadership is legitimate, has accused the suspended NWC members of high-handedness and internal sabotage.
He has also pledged to restore unity and reposition the PDP ahead of the 2027 general elections. But critics within the party see his emergence as a calculated power grab and a desperate attempt to hijack the party structure.
By midday, tensions flared again as PDP staff at both offices staged a walkout, protesting what they described as “total confusion” over who is in charge. They vowed not to return to work until the leadership crisis is resolved.
As of press time, both the Wadata Plaza and Legacy House remained under lock and key, with armed officers maintaining tight security.
Meanwhile, loyalists of both factions were said to be holding separate strategy meetings at undisclosed venues as frantic efforts to calm the situation continued behind closed doors.