[JUST IN] PDP’s Turaki assumes office as party crisis deepens

The National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party, Kabiru Turaki, on Tuesday formally assumed office at the party’s National Secretariat, Wadata Plaza, Abuja.

Turaki arrived in the company of Governors Seyi Makinde and Bala Mohammed.

Speaking after assuming office, Turaki thanked PDP leaders for what he described as their “resilience” and “courage” in resisting attempts to destabilise the party.

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“I want to thank all of you for your resilience, for your courage, for your resoluteness in this struggle to take over our party, our property, and in doing so, to save democracy,” he said.

Turaki claimed that for several hours, leaders loyal to him were engaged in a confrontation with “renegade members” who were expelled at the party’s national convention in Ibadan.

“For the past seven hours, Nigerians are living witnesses to the struggle we’ve been engaged in with those renegade members of our party that were expelled in our national convention in Ibadan. They came here with armed thugs, as we predicted, to disrupt our meetings, but we were able to contain them effectively,” he said.

Last Saturday’s Ibadan convention resulted in the expulsion of several high-profile members, including FCT Minister Nyesom Wike, Senator Samuel Anyanwu, Kamaldeen Ajibade (SAN), former Ekiti State Governor Ayo Fayose, Austin Nwachukwu, and others, for alleged anti-party activities.

The factional NEC loyal to Wike later announced the expulsion of Bode George, former BoT Chairman Adolphus Wabara, and Turaki himself — a move that escalated tensions ahead of Tuesday’s parallel meetings at Wadata Plaza.

Turaki said his camp had now taken full control of the secretariat.

“Now, we have driven them out of the secretariat, and as you can see, I have entered my office. I have assumed leadership as the elected chairman.”

He insisted that the confrontation did not end the internal power struggle.

“This struggle is a continuing one. We will remain relentless; we will continue to fight,” he declared.

Government, accusing a member of the President’s cabinet of leading the disruption.

“The president should call his minister to order. The kind of conduct that the minister got himself engaged in this morning is unbecoming. How can a serving minister lead thugs to disrupt a legally arranged meeting?” he asked.

He said the clash could have resulted in casualties.

“If we had not exercised restraint… There would have been bloodshed here. We were tear-gassed — more than 50 canisters were shot at us — but we remain relentless,” he added.

Turaki warned that his faction would not hesitate to mobilise supporters nationwide if the attacks continue.

“Should this continue, I will not hesitate to call all members of PDP in Nigeria to assemble here.”

He also appealed to the international community.

“You’ve seen what is happening… the attempts now openly being made to destroy and stifle democracy. We will defend democracy. We are prepared to lay down our lives to nurture this nascent democracy,” he said.

Turaki commended PDP members for staying calm despite what he described as severe provocation.

“This shows that we in PDP are peace-loving and law-abiding, but that does not mean we will not defend our integrity or our lives if threatened,” he stated.

Tuesday’s events followed a chaotic morning at Wadata Plaza as both factions—Turaki’s and Wike’s—arrived for separate NEC and BoT meetings, resulting in a showdown that required heavy security intervention.