Hours to NEC meeting, FCTA seals PDP hqtrs
Less than 24 hours to the much-anticipated National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) on Monday sealed the party’s national secretariat in Abuja. The move came amid rising political tension and a deepening internal crisis within the main opposition party, with FCT Minister, Nyesom Wike, […]
Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Headquarters in Wuse Zone 5, Abuja
Less than 24 hours to the much-anticipated National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) on Monday sealed the party’s national secretariat in Abuja.
The move came amid rising political tension and a deepening internal crisis within the main opposition party, with FCT Minister, Nyesom Wike, widely seen as a central figure in the turmoil.
It also came just a day after Wike withdrew from peace agreements aimed at resolving the conflict, insisting he would not support the NEC meeting unless his ally, Senator Samuel Anyanwu, is recognised as the party’s national secretary.
Before now, Wike had threatened to revoke and repossess 4,794 properties over the non-payment of ground rent. Among the affected was the PDP national secretariat, Wadata Plaza, located in Wuse Zone 5, and its permanent secretariat still under construction in the Central Business District of the city.
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At exactly 2:06 p.m. on Monday, a team of FCTA officials led by Lere Olayinka, spokesperson to the FCT Minister, and Chijioke Nwankwoeze, Director of Land Administration, arrived at the Wadata Plaza and locked the main entrance gate.
The action follows the FCTA’s earlier announcement that it would reclaim properties affected by the revocation of land titles for ground rent debts ranging between 10 and 43 years.
Speaking shortly after the gate was sealed, Olayinka dismissed suggestions that the move was politically motivated.
“We are not here for politics,” he said. “If you’re talking about a political witch hunt, we’ve already gone to Ibro Hotels, Access Bank, FIRS, and Total Petrol Station. We’re also going to other places tomorrow (Tuesday). So are all those ones political too?”
He insisted the exercise would continue until all affected properties are recovered.
Also addressing journalists, Nwankwoeze explained that all affected property owners, including Senator Samaila Mamman Kofi, the original titleholder of Wadata Plaza, were duly notified.
“Senator Samaila Mamman Kofi was served a revocation notice, and out of an abundance of caution, we also pasted it here. His address on record is in Kaduna, and he was duly served there,” Nwankwoeze said.
“This is a copy of the revocation notice and evidence of service, showing he was served on 14 March 2025. A copy was also pasted at the gate of this building.”
Closure an attempt to muzzle opposition – PDP
Damagum said a committee had been constituted to address key issues and would present a report when the meeting resumes.
“As you can see, we’ve adjourned our meeting till tomorrow by 10. We’ve set up a small committee that will report back to us in the morning,” he added. “We’ll properly brief you once the meeting concludes.”
Meanwhile, Daily Trust gathered that the PDP caucus was using the night to assess the legal viability of holding Tuesday’s NEC meeting without running afoul of Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) guidelines or risking further litigation.
A caucus member familiar with the meeting said the committee was expected to liaise with INEC officials to ensure all procedures conformed with the commission’s regulations.
“Most members of the caucus support going ahead with the NEC meeting tomorrow, but the party doesn’t want to give aggrieved individuals an excuse to run to court,” the source said.
“The committee is consulting with the relevant stakeholders to ensure everything is done properly. The biggest issue is whether INEC will recognise the names signing off on official documents and correspondence, which could help avoid any legal hurdles.”
At the heart of the PDP’s current crisis is a battle for control of the party structure ahead of the 2027 general election.
Sources noted that while Wike is determined to assert his dominance and align the party with President Bola Tinubu’s re-election interests, PDP governors—led by Bala Mohammed of Bauchi and Seyi Makinde of Oyo—are resisting such moves.
The internal wrangling was on full display Monday night, as the caucus meeting ended in a stalemate. Sources said the deep divisions over the control of the party and legitimacy of key national officers left the meeting unable to reach a consensus.
Attendees at the meeting included members of the National Working Committee (NWC), led by Damagum and acting National Secretary Setonji Koshoedo; the PDP Governors’ Forum, led by Bala Mohammed; and the Board of Trustees (BoT), led by Senator Adolphus Wabara with Senator Ahmed Makarfi as secretary.
Despite hours of deliberation, the caucus failed to agree on a clear path forward.
Tinubu steps in with 14-day grace period
Meanwhile, following mounting public criticism over the mass revocation of property titles, the FCTA announced that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu had directed a 14-day moratorium for defaulters to settle their debts.
In a statement signed by Nwankwoeze and shared by Wike’s media aide, it was revealed that affected property holders could now pay up their ground rent alongside penalties within the window.
“For properties in the Central Area, the sum of N5 million will be paid by defaulters as a penalty, in addition to the ground rent owed,” the statement said.
“Those in Maitama, Asokoro, Wuse II, and Guzape Districts will pay N3 million, while those in Wuse I, Garki I, and Garki II will pay N2 million, all in addition to outstanding rent.”
Nwankwoeze further disclosed that individuals who acquired properties without perfecting title documents through the mandatory minister’s consent now have two weeks to regularise their ownership with the Department of Land Administration.
“Furthermore, the Minister of the FCT, Barrister Nyesom Ezenwo Wike, CON, has granted a 14-day grace period for all property holders in the FCT to pay their Right of Occupancy (R-of-O) or Certificate of Occupancy (C-of-O) bills or risk revocation,” the statement warned.
Analysts weigh in
Speaking to Daily Trust, a political scientist, Dr Abubakar Kari of the University of Abuja, described the development as “not unexpected”, noting that the FCTA had previously warned defaulters. However, he said that while the action may be legally justifiable, its timing and execution were politically questionable.
“On the surface, it will appear they are just doing their job,” Kari said. “But the reality is that it’s likely to be interpreted as politics—and I think it is.”
He argued that regardless of the legality of the FCTA’s action, the fact that it targeted the headquarters of Nigeria’s main opposition party cannot be ignored. According to him, many Nigerians will view it as part of a broader agenda by the APC-led federal government to undermine the PDP.
“Whenever you mix governance with politics, politics dominates. The primary issue becomes who is affected—and in this case, it’s the PDP. That’s why many will see it as political persecution,” he added.
Kari also pointed to the central role of the FCT Minister, Nyesom Wike, who, despite being a PDP member, has had a strained relationship with the party’s national leadership.
“Wike is widely seen as someone intent on destabilising the PDP. So it’s hard for him to escape the accusation that he’s using his office to settle personal political scores,” Kari said.
While the seal-off may unsettle the PDP ahead of its NEC meeting, Kari said it should not derail the party’s operations—provided its leaders remain committed to resolving internal rifts.
“Yes, it will throw them off balance temporarily, but it shouldn’t stop them. There are many alternative venues where they can meet. If they’re serious, they can even open another secretariat,” he said.
He emphasised that the party retains its constitutional rights to freedom of association and assembly, noting that meeting at the national secretariat is not a legal requirement for holding legitimate sessions.
Another political analyst, Jide Ojo, offered a contrasting view, placing blame squarely on the PDP leadership rather than the FCTA. He argued that the party had ample time to settle its ground rent obligations before the enforcement was carried out.
“It’s a shame that the PDP, a party that ruled Nigeria for 16 years, would allow itself to be so embarrassed,” Ojo said. “This issue has been in the public domain since March. The media reported it. Notices were served. Other organisations were affected too—banks, hotels, and even the Federal Inland Revenue Service. Yet PDP leaders allowed the situation to fester.”
He wondered why key stakeholders in the party, including members of the National Working Committee, the Board of Trustees, PDP governors, lawmakers, and local government officials, failed to intervene.
“They had more than enough time and resources to pay off the debt. It’s not just about politics—it’s about responsibility,” he added.
Ojo also noted that the property in question may not be directly owned by the PDP, suggesting that the actual landlord may have hoped the political sensitivity would shield them from enforcement.
“Regardless, if they had taken the notice seriously, they could have avoided this national embarrassment,” he said.
But a PDP chieftain, Mallam Umar Sani, claimed that the party made efforts to pay the ground rent but was blocked by the FCT minister.
Sani, a former spokesman to ex-Vice President Namadi Sambo, told Daily Trust that the sealing of the secretariat was a deliberate attempt to stop the party’s May 27 NEC meeting.
“The reason Wike decided to seal the secretariat is not because of the amounts involved. The total amount due for the ground rent is so small that even a secretariat staffer could pay it,” he said.
“So, you can see that a political party of that magnitude cannot claim to be unable to afford the millions involved. What happened is that when the issue came up and the party offered to pay, Wike allegedly instructed that they should not collect the money.
“He directed that the account number for payment should not be released and the money should not be accepted—because he was determined to seal the secretariat by all means.”
According to Sani, Wike’s real objective was to frustrate the NEC meeting.
“Wike has realised that going to court will be a waste of time. The Supreme Court has clearly ruled that party leadership matters fall within the exclusive domain of political parties. So he can’t take it to court.
“The party was expected to decide at NEC who should serve as national secretary. Wike wants Senator Anyanwu in that position, but PDP leaders have refused to withdraw the case in court as he demanded. That’s why he wants to stop NEC—because it will ratify decisions he opposes,” he alleged.
Sani said Wike and his allies know that the NEC would endorse key leadership changes, hence the need to use “the weapon at his disposal”.
“To give the action a veneer of legitimacy, he started sealing other properties so it wouldn’t look like the PDP was being singled out,” he added.
“But no other political party was targeted—only the PDP. If you check, we have 19 political parties with registered presence in Abuja. You mean to tell me that only PDP failed to pay ground rent? It’s deliberate. It was intended to disrupt the party and prevent the NEC from holding.”
Despite the seal-off, Sani said the party was determined to proceed with its plans.
“The party has announced that the NEC meeting will go ahead. If all goes well, NEC will still hold tomorrow (Tuesday),” he added.
A member of the party’s National Executive Committee, Timothy Osadolor, described the sealing of the PDP headquarters as unfortunate and shameful—especially coming from “one of the biggest beneficiaries” of the party.
Osadolor said the incident amounted to a referendum on the integrity of the FCT minister.
“It’s quite unfortunate that after 26 or 27 years, the PDP is suffering such an embarrassment from one of its biggest beneficiaries—someone who has benefitted from the PDP family and the PDP structure.
“This is a referendum on the integrity of the same person who has been local government chairman under the PDP, who has been chief of staff, who has been governor, and who has been minister under the PDP.
“Is he trying to say that all these years, he never knew that the party was not paying ground rent?
“A dutiful African child who sees his father naked—is he not supposed to cover his father’s nakedness? Amplifying it and exposing his father’s nakedness is akin to very poor home training.”
He said the development was clearly politically motivated.
“For me, I think this issue is more political than we tend to see it. I’ve spoken with people in their finance departments—they’ve received most of the payments.
“So I don’t see this issue as anything other than political. I’m sure that those who created the courts and courtrooms as institutions where people can seek redress when their rights are trampled upon did not make a mistake.
“So we will not sleep on this. We will definitely challenge these very ludicrous actions by the FCTA—and let’s see where that leads.”
Osadolor added, “the president should know that it’s not the building that is wrestling him—it’s the Nigerian people. Whatever he does to the building, even if he demolishes it, can he demolish the heart and resolve of Nigerians committed to his return to his house? He can’t.
“There have been presidents before him in this country. Why is the fixation with 2027 eating him up and slowing down his government?
“So, let’s take this as it is. It’s only God who gives power. Let’s see how these things unfold.”
Additional reports by: Husseini Yahaya & Musa Luka Musa