PDP Moves BoT Meeting To New Venue After Police Siege
On Monday, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) relocated its Board of Trustees (BoT) meeting from Wadata Plaza, the party’s National Secretariat in Abuja, to the YarAdua Centre in the Federal Capital Territory’s Central Business District.
“The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Board of Trustees (BoT) Meeting, which was originally scheduled to begin at 10 a.m. at the Party’s National Secretariat in Abuja, has been rescheduled for Yar’Adua Centre, Central Business District, Abuja,” the PDP announced on its official X (formerly Twitter) account.
The party condemned the seizing of its secretariat by armed officers from the FCT Police Command.Our journalist at the Yar’Adua Centre noticed the entry of BoT members who had previously been denied admission to the Wadata Plaza.
The conduct of police officers who blocked BoT members from accessing the secretariat for their meeting were labelled as harassment by the PDP.
Special announcement!
Change of venue for the PDP Board of Trustees (BoT) meeting.
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Board of Trustees (BoT) meeting, planned for 10 a.m. at the National Secretariat in Abuja, has been postponed.
— Official PDP Nigeria (@OfficialPDPNig), June 30, 2025.
The police had barred members of the party’s Board of Trustees, including Maina Chiroma, from entering the secretariat premises.
Umar Tsauri, a former PDP National Secretary, told Channels Television that the police halted the BoT members, claiming they were acting on a “order from above”.
The dissatisfied BoT members and party leaders, including Bode George, later left the secretariat amid concerns about the party’s National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting, which is also set for Monday.Meanwhile, the FCT Police Command announced that police officers were assigned to the party’s secretariat to preserve peace and order.
In a statement, FCT Police Spokesperson Josephine Adeh stated, “Police officers were only deployed to the venue to maintain law and order and ensure public safety, as per their constitutional mandate.” The police never shut off the Secretariat.”
A Cocktail of Intrigue
The PDP has been mired in an internal conflict that has lasted years. The problem has caused many postponements of the party’s NEC meetings.
The NEC meeting was recently postponed, leading the party’s leadership to consult with the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
Ambassador Umar Damagum, the PDP’s Acting National Chairman.
The Acting National Chairman of the party, Umar Damagun, announced the postponement of the NEC meeting in Abuja last week. However, the National Working Committee (NWC) of the PDP reiterated that the party’s 100th NEC meeting would occur on Monday, June 30, 2025.
The NWC rejected Damagum’s announcement, claiming that only the NEC had the authority to make such a judgement.
One of the primary factors compounding the main opposition party’s crisis was the National Secretary job, which both Samuel Anyanwu and Sunday Ude-Okoye claimed.
Samuel Anyanwu & Ude Okoye
Damagum also announced in his press briefing last week that Anyanwu had been reinstated as the party’s National Secretary, a decision that the NWC challenged.
The battle for the party’s secretary position has been the subject of numerous judicial challenges, with the Supreme judicial issuing a decision in March that both contesting groups have construed in their favour.
Justice Mohammed Umar of the Federal High Court in Abuja scheduled a hearing in another complaint on the party’s legitimate National Secretary for September 22, 2025.