Security operatives took over the headquarters of the Peoples Democratic Party in Abuja on Monday, stopping the Board of Trustees from holding a meeting ahead of the 100th National Executive Committee meeting scheduled for later in the day.

Former PDP secretary Ibrahim Tsauri confirmed to journalists at the secretariat that the officers claimed to have shut down the building following “an order from above.”

“The policeman told me, ‘There is an order from above to stop the meeting.’ This meeting is scheduled for 1:00 p.m. I came here for the meeting, so for me, I can only brief you on the politics. Since they have stopped the BOT, I do not know if they can hold the NEC,” Mr Tsauri said.

It was also gathered that the heavy operatives, comprising the police and the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, loaded in trucks, barricaded strategic positions around the secretariat and streets leading to the building.

The operatives also invaded the NEC hall at Wadata Plaza, the venue of the meeting, and ordered everyone in the building to exit.

Crisis in the party worsened after its National Working Committee split into two factions, with the one led by Deputy National Chairman South, Taofeak Arapaja, insisting on the NEC meeting holding today, while the other, led by the acting national chairman, Umar Damagum, calling for a “Special Expanded National Caucus Meeting”.