The Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, has dismissed the inauguration of a Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) caretaker committee by supporters of Kabiru Turaki, describing the move as fraudulent and misleading.
Speaking during a media chat in Abuja on Wednesday, Wike cautioned Nigerians against what he called an attempt to create confusion within the party. He insisted that there is only one recognised PDP, with its national secretariat located at Wadata House in Wuse Zone 5, Abuja.
He maintained that the caretaker committee set up by Turaki’s faction does not reflect any legitimate leadership gap, arguing that the party remains intact and functional. According to him, claims of a leadership vacuum are unfounded and intended to deceive the public.
Wike also rejected the interpretation of the Supreme Court ruling as creating a vacuum in the party’s leadership. He warned that any attempt by the Turaki-led group to sell nomination forms would amount to fraud.
“You have refused to tell the public what is on ground, yet you claim to be setting up a caretaker committee—how?” Wike said. “If you say you are a party, show Nigerians your national secretariat. Everyone knows Wadata House as the PDP headquarters. If you are selling forms, who are you selling to, and where will they be submitted? That is fraud.”
He added that the PDP convention held at the Moshood Abiola National Stadium in Abuja—attended by officials of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC)—remains the party’s only valid convention and produced its current national leadership.
Meanwhile, the PDP Board of Trustees, led by Adolphus Wabara, had on Monday announced the appointment of a 13-member interim National Working Committee. Wabara said the decision followed the Supreme Court’s affirmation of the nullification of the Ibadan Convention, which he argued created a leadership vacuum.
The interim committee is headed by Tanimu Turaki, a former Minister of Special Duties. The decision emerged from a National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting convened by the Turaki-led faction at the Yar’Adua Centre in Abuja.
Prominent figures at the meeting included Seyi Makinde, Babangida Aliyu, Jerry Gana, Wabara, Turaki, and Zainab Maina, among others.
The Turaki-led bloc also declared the Abuja convention that produced the Abdulrahman Mohammed-led National Working Committee null and void, further deepening the internal rift within the party.
