Police Stop PDP BoT Meeting
Police Stop PDP BoT Meeting
Crisis within the leadership of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) deepened Monday as operatives of the FCT Police Command have stopped the Board of Trustees meeting, citing orders from above.
Though, members of BoT were allowed inside the PDP headquarters, they were not allowed into the main hall where the meeting was scheduled to take place.
As at press time, members of the PDP BoT were seen loitering around and discussing in small groups.
Those who tried to gain entrance to the meeting hall were ordered out.
Also, police and officers of the civil defence were seen manning all strategic points at the venue.
The BoT is said to be divided, the chairman of the board, Senator Adolphus Wabara, is leading a group championing the call for the 100th NEC, while the secretary, Senator Ahmed Maikarfi, is leading those calling for the expanded national caucus of the party.
As at press time, the BoT scheduled for 10am is yet to commence, but all members of the BoT have arrived the PDP headquarters
The crisis deepened when two senior party officials issued conflicting directives regarding the long-anticipated 100th meeting of the National Executive Committee (NEC), scheduled for Monday (today).
Ambassador Taofeek Arapaja, the Deputy National Chairman (South), in a press conference held in Abuja on Sunday night, reaffirmed the party’s commitment to holding the 100th NEC meeting as scheduled, asserting that the meeting remains legally binding and unalterable.
Addressing journalists, Amb. Arapaja declared, “For the avoidance of doubt, the National Working Committee (NWC) assures all party members that the 100th NEC meeting will proceed as scheduled tomorrow, Monday, June 30, 2025, at the NEC Hall of the Wadata Plaza, PDP National Secretariat, Abuja.”
He noted that the meeting will receive critical updates on the work of the Zoning Committee and the National Convention Organizing Committee ahead of the party’s National Convention slated for August 28 to 30, 2025.
Amb. Arapaja emphasized that the meeting date was unanimously adopted during the party’s 99th NEC session on May 27, 2025, and remains inviolable under Section 31(3) of the PDP Constitution (as amended in 2017). “No organ, officer, or faction of the party has the authority to vary, cancel, or convert the NEC meeting.”
His remarks come in direct response to a notice circulated on social media, which purported that the NEC meeting had been replaced with a “Special Expanded National Caucus Meeting” on the same date and venue.
Dismissing the notice as unconstitutional, Arapaja stressed that no such organ as an “Expanded National Caucus” exists in the PDP Constitution. “Section 30 of the party’s Constitution is explicit in defining the structure, composition, and functions of the National Caucus. Any suggestion of expansion is not only alien to the party’s legal framework but entirely without basis,” he said.
In what appears to be a power play within the party’s hierarchy, the controversial notice was signed by Senator Samuel N. Anyanwu, the PDP’s National Secretary.
The notice invites a broad range of stakeholders, including former governors, immediate past gubernatorial candidates, ex-NWC members, state chairmen, and PDP National Assembly caucus members, to what it describes as a “Special Expanded National Caucus Meeting” at 2:00 p.m. on Monday.
The NWC, through Amb. Arapaja, has categorically disowned the invitation, urging members to disregard it. “The PDP is a party founded on the principles of rule of law, constitutional order, and internal democracy. These core values must be safeguarded at all times,” he concluded.
While the full implications of this internal discord remain unclear, it underscores growing tensions within the party’s leadership as it prepares for a crucial National Convention later this year. All eyes will now be on Monday’s developments at Wadata Plaza, where competing visions for the future of the PDP appear to be colliding.
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