Index to Nigerian Newspapers

The battle for the control of the Peoples Democratic Party took a new twist on Monday in Abuja when loyalists of the Federal Capital Territory Minister, Nyesom Wike, forcefully took over the party’s National Secretariat, Wadata Plaza, in the absence of governors elected on the party’s platform and their loyalists. Members of the National Working Committee, led by the party’s National Chairman, Umar Damagum, who have been enjoying the support of the PDP governors, were nowhere near the secretariat when the Wike-backed faction took over on Monday. It was not clear, as of the time of filing this report, what the PDP Governors’ Forum, led by Bauchi State Governor, Senator Bala Mohammed, intended to do in the interim, with Damagum appearing to have lost out in the power tussle. Earlier on Monday, a few minutes after 9 am, the Wike-led faction of the PDP headed by Mohammed gathered at the party’s Federal Capital Territory office.