Senior leaders of the Peoples Democratic Party have launched scathing criticisms against Monday’s security blockade of their national secretariat, with Board of Trustees Secretary Senator Ahmed Makarfi and Chairman Senator Adolphus Wabara describing the incident as an unprecedented assault on Nigeria’s democratic institutions.
The blockade, reportedly carried out by security agents on ‘orders from above,’ prevented BoT members from accessing the National Executive Committee hall and triggered accusations of political interference by the ruling All Progressives Congress.
The PDP BoT described the incident as an act of harassment and a deliberate attempt to sabotage its internal reconciliation efforts amid growing tensions over the party’s leadership crisis and factional divisions.
Despite the disruption, the BoT meeting proceeded at the Shehu Musa Yar’Adua Centre in Abuja’s Central Business District and went into a closed-door session shortly after.
BoT Chairman Senator Adolphus Wabara and Secretary Senator Ahmed Makarfi addressed the media briefly before the meeting commenced, expressing deep frustration and emphasising the urgency of unity within the party.
Makarfi, visibly angered while addressing journalists at the relocated BoT meeting venue, revealed shocking details of how governors and party leaders were turned back by security operatives. “What we witnessed today goes beyond party politics – it’s a direct attack on constitutional democracy,” Makarfi stated. “When opposition parties can’t hold meetings in their own offices, we must ask: what kind of democracy are we practicing?”
The former Kaduna governor provided a minute-by-minute account of the morning’s events: “By 10 AM when we assembled at the Bauchi Governor’s Lodge for pre-meeting consultations, we were already receiving distress calls about armed security personnel surrounding our secretariat. Our governors were particularly incensed – this was clearly an attempt to provoke chaos ahead of our NEC meeting.”
Wabara, struggling to contain his emotions, recounted his personal humiliation: “I had to order my driver to speed past the secretariat when I saw how our members were being treated like criminals. This isn’t just about PDP – it’s about whether Nigeria will remain a multi-party democracy.”
Both leaders emphasized the strategic importance of the disrupted meeting. “This was supposed to be our 80th BoT meeting – a historic gathering to resolve internal differences,” Wabara explained. “Instead, we’re spending energy defending our basic right to assemble. Let history record that we held this meeting under duress.”
Makarfi issued a stern warning to political actors: “These tactics won’t break our resolve. If anything, they’ve united us more than ever. We’re documenting every intimidation attempt for the international community to see how opposition voices are being silenced.”
