The Kabiru Turaki (SAN)-led faction of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has filed a suit at the Federal High Court, Abuja, demanding that the police immediately unseal the party’s national secretariat and other offices nationwide.
According to court documents filed through lead counsel Chief Chris Uche (SAN), the faction is seeking a mandatory injunction directing the Inspector-General of Police and the Nigeria Police Force to remove all barricades and vacate the party’s premises without delay.
The PDP national secretariat at Wadata Plaza in Abuja was sealed in November following violent tensions between the Turaki-led faction and the faction aligned with Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike.
The standoff escalated after both factions scheduled meetings at the secretariat on the same day, prompting police intervention, tear gas deployment, and the locking of the premises with barbed wire.
The plaintiffs, including Turaki and the PDP Board of Trustees chairman Senator Adolphus Wabara, argued that the police acted without lawful authority when they sealed and occupied the secretariat and annex from November 18, 2025, crippling the party’s daily operations, including administrative coordination, policy planning, membership management, and preparations for future elections.
The court case, FHC/ABJ/CS/252/2025, seeks to restrain the police from further interfering with the party’s operations and ensure unrestricted access to offices in all 36 states, pending the determination of the suit.
An affidavit supporting the motion, sworn by PDP national secretary Taofik Arapaja, stated that the party held an elective national convention in Ibadan on November 15–16, 2025, which elected Turaki as national chairman.
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) was notified of the outcomes, and security agencies were informed of an emergency stakeholders’ meeting on November 18, 2025.
Instead of providing security, a large contingent of police officers stormed the secretariat, fired over 200 tear gas canisters, and sealed the premises, denying access to party officials, staff, and visiting governors, according to the affidavit.
The plaintiffs argued that granting the application would serve the interest of justice and prevent the impression of police partisanship, insisting that financial compensation would not adequately address the damage caused if the relief is denied.
The Turaki-led faction maintains that the continued closure of the secretariat amounts to an unlawful occupation of PDP property and is seeking immediate judicial intervention to restore access and normal operations.
