The crisis rocking the Peoples Democratic Party has taken another turn as the Kabiru Turaki (SAN)-led faction moved to court over the continued sealing of the party’s national secretariat in Abuja.
The faction has filed a suit at the Federal High Court, Abuja, asking the court to order the Inspector-General of Police and the Nigeria Police Force to immediately unseal and vacate the PDP national headquarters and other party offices nationwide.
According to court documents, the request is contained in a Motion on Notice filed by the plaintiffs through their lead counsel, Chief Chris Uche (SAN).
The application seeks a mandatory injunction directing the police to remove all barricades and withdraw from the party’s offices without delay.
However, the PDP national secretariat was sealed in November following violent tensions between two rival factions of the party. One faction is led by Turaki, while the other is aligned with the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike.
The standoff occurred after both factions scheduled meetings at the party headquarters on the same day. The situation escalated, prompting police intervention. Tear gas was reportedly fired during the operation, after which the premises were locked and barricaded with barbed wire.
As a result, the Turaki-led National Working Committee was unable to hold its postponed inaugural meeting at the secretariat.
Turaki had emerged as the party’s national chairman at a national convention held in Ibadan, Oyo State, in November. However, the Wike-aligned faction rejected the convention, insisting it violated existing court orders restraining the PDP from holding the exercise.
Before the convention, Justices James Omotosho and Peter Lifu of the Federal High Court, Abuja, had issued orders stopping the PDP from conducting its national convention scheduled for November 15 and 16, 2025. Despite this, a High Court in Ibadan later granted an ex parte order permitting the party to proceed with the convention.
At the Ibadan gathering, the party announced the expulsion of Wike, the embattled national secretary Samuel Anyanwu, the Wike-aligned factional chairman Mohammed Abdulrahman, and eight others. They were accused of anti-party activities.
In the fresh suit marked FHC/ABJ/CS/252/2025, the PDP, alongside Turaki and the chairman of its Board of Trustees, Senator Adolphus Wabara, asked the court to restrain the police from further interference with the party’s operations.
The defendants in the suit are the Inspector-General of Police and the Nigeria Police Force.
Specifically, the plaintiffs prayed the court for “an order of mandatory injunction directing the defendants to immediately remove all barricades, unseal and vacate forthwith from the 1st plaintiff’s national secretariat at Wadata Plaza, Plot 1970 Michael Okpara Way, Wuse Zone 5, Abuja, including its annex, ‘Legacy House’, at Plot 2774 Shehu Shagari Way, Maitama, Abuja, pending the determination of this suit.”
They also sought “an order restraining the defendants, whether by themselves, their officers, agents, servants or howsoever, from invading, breaking into, sealing, occupying or in any manner whatsoever restricting the plaintiffs’ access to, use or occupation of any of the 1st plaintiff’s offices in the 36 states of the federation, including its national secretariat and annex, pending the determination of this suit.”
In their supporting arguments, the plaintiffs claimed that the police acted without lawful authority when they sealed and occupied the party’s secretariat and annex from November 18, 2025, and have remained there since.
They stressed that Turaki and Wabara are principal officers of the party, responsible for its administration and overall management.
An affidavit supporting the motion was sworn to by the PDP national secretary, Taofik Arapaja. He stated that the party conducted its elective national convention in Ibadan on November 15 and 16, 2025, where new national officers were elected, including Turaki as national chairman.
Arapaja added that the Independent National Electoral Commission was formally informed of the outcome through a letter dated November 17, 2025.
He explained that the party only notified security agencies, including the police and the Department of State Services, about an emergency stakeholders’ meeting scheduled for November 18, 2025, and requested security support.
According to him, instead of providing security, a large contingent of police officers led by the Commissioner of Police, FCT, stormed the secretariat, fired over 200 tear gas canisters and sealed the premises.
He said party officials, staff and visiting governors, including those of Bauchi and Oyo states, were denied access.
The affidavit claimed that the police action was carried out without any valid court order and amounted to an unlawful occupation of PDP property.
The party further argued that the continued closure of the secretariat has crippled its daily operations. These include administrative coordination, policy planning, membership management and preparations for future elections.
The plaintiffs maintained that the police, as a statutory institution under the Nigeria Police Act 2020, must not act in a partisan manner.
They urged the court to grant the application, insisting that the balance of convenience favours the PDP. They argued that financial compensation would not adequately address the damage caused if the reliefs are denied.
According to them, granting the application would serve the interest of justice and prevent the impression that the police action is being endorsed by the court.
