Following Police Siege on Wadata Plaza, PDP Moves BOT Meeting to Yar’Adua Center

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has relocated its Board of Trustees (BoT) meeting from the party’s National Secretariat in Abuja to the Yar’Adua Centre in the Central Business District of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).

The sudden change of venue was announced on the party’s official social media handle, citing the takeover of the secretariat by armed policemen from the FCT Police Command.

The meeting, which was initially scheduled to hold at 10am at the Wadata Plaza, was forced to relocate after BoT members, including Maina Chiroma, were denied access to the premises.

The police barred the BoT members from entering the secretariat, citing an “order from above”.

A former National Secretary of the PDP, Umar Tsauri, confirmed this to Channels Television, expressing disappointment at the development.

The PDP has condemned the actions of the police, describing it as “harassment” and an attempt to disrupt the party’s activities. The party’s chieftains, including Bode George, were seen leaving the secretariat amid tension over the party’s National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting, also scheduled for Monday.

In response to the allegations, the FCT Police Command has stated that the deployment of policemen to the secretariat was intended to maintain law and order and ensure public safety.

According to the FCT Police Spokesperson, Josephine Adeh, “Police officers were only deployed to the venue to maintain law and order and ensure public safety in line with their constitutional mandate. At no time was the Secretariat sealed off by the Police.”

The relocation of the BoT meeting to the Yar’Adua Centre has been seen as a move to circumvent the police blockade and allow the party’s leaders to conduct their business without interference.

The development has sparked concerns about the role of the police in politics and the potential for interference in the activities of opposition parties.