The ongoing ‘war’ in the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, yesterday took a new dimension as security operatives stormed the national secretariat of the ‘new PDP’ faction led by Abubakar Baraje and sealed it off.
Heavily armed men of the Nigeria Police were said to have been mobilized to the office, which is located at No 3, Oji River Street, Maitama in Abuja, and sealed off the premises.
It was gathered that a few officials of the faction were at the secretariat when the police took over the building, thereby preventing people from going in or coming out.
Reacting to the development, the Baraje-led PDP described the act as “the height of impunity,” saying the office was sealed without an existing legal document.
A statement issued on Saturday by the national secretary of the ‘New PDP’, Prince Olagunsoye Oyinlola, said “The whole world knows that Justice E. Chukwu of the Federal High Court, Abuja, on Friday, refused to grant Alhaji Bamanga Tukur’s application for an ex parte injunction against our party’s executive.
“The Judge asked parties to maintain the status quo. His judgment was a reinforcement of an earlier order of a Lagos High Court which also asked parties to maintain the status quo. Now, should Nigerians conclude that Tukur’s interpretation of status quo is this crude display of naked power and undisguised impunity?
“We are not, at all, surprised at this occurrence, given the fact that Tukur issued a statement on Friday evening, deliberately seeking to mislead the media and the public that Justice Chukwu granted him an injunction against us.
“We are happy that the ever-vigilant Nigerian press ignored him and his falsehood. Now, he is not only willfully disobeying the various courts which have made pronouncements on this matter, but also spicing up his love for impunity with this reckless misuse of state power by misleading the police.
“We call for an immediate removal of the siege to our secretariat. We call on the Inspector General of Police to order the immediate removal of his men from our office. Doing so, we believe, will serve the interest of justice, rule of law and democracy. Nigeria is a country ruled by law and not by might and force.
“We hasten to say that if this move is aimed at breaking our spirit, that goal is definitely off the mark. We are determined to rescue our party from the lawlessness and crass arrogance that have defined the character of the Tukur leadership since inception. Our party needs that deliverance, its members deserve the change we have brought into it.”
Meanwhile, the Bamanga Tukur-led PDP, in a statement by its publicity secretary, Mr Olisa Metuh, hailed the closure of the secretariat, noting that the court had ordered the parties to maintain status quo bellum.
The Commissioner of Police for the Federal Capital Territory, Femi Ogunbayode, who confirmed the development, said the police was at the premises to maintain peace and enforce law and order.
According to him, there was a court order directing all parties to the dispute to maintain the status quo.
He added that the police was only ensuring that peace, law and order were maintained.
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