The Publicity Secretary elected at the Ibadan convention of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Ini Ememobong Essien, on Tuesday sharply criticised the police for dispersing party officials and journalists with tear gas at the PDP’s national secretariat in Abuja.
Speaking to reporters after the chaotic incident, Essien issued a direct appeal to President Bola Tinubu, urging him to rein in the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, whom he accused of fuelling internal tensions and destabilising the opposition party.
According to Essien, the confrontation began when police officers fired tear gas at party members, journalists, and even serving governors who had gathered at the secretariat for a scheduled engagement. He expressed shock at the level of force used, noting that the police had been briefed about the party’s concerns in a meeting between the PDP national chairman and the FCT Commissioner of Police only a day earlier.
Essien alleged that security operatives had allowed entry to individuals expelled from the PDP while blocking access to legitimate members, including two governors and the national chairman himself.
“You have been tear-gassed. All of us know the truth,” he told journalists.
“Today, some governors have been tear-gassed — for what reason? Yesterday, the chairman of our party met with the Commissioner of Police, and we clearly stated the issues. But this morning, they aided and abetted the entry of people who had been expelled from the party and then prevented the original owners of the party from coming in.”
He went on to describe how the situation escalated after the national chairman addressed the press. Although the PDP leadership had agreed to postpone their planned meeting due to security concerns, Essien said the police later escorted another individual into the compound. The same officers had earlier denied entry to senior party figures.
“This one human being has had problems with almost everyone,” he said in reference to Wike. “If you share the problems he has had with his fellow ministers. And if the president cannot call his minister to order, then history will record for him that he destroyed this republic.”
Essien insisted that the president must intervene to restore what he called “sanity”, warning that the government’s handling of the opposition could damage Nigeria’s democratic credentials. He reminded President Tinubu of his own years in opposition, stressing that he was never subjected to such treatment.
“We are not asking him to help the opposition,” Essien said. “We are simply asking him to remove his hands from the opposition.”
The incident has added a fresh layer of tension to the already fractious political climate within the PDP, as various factions continue to jostle for control. The police had not issued a formal statement on the tear-gassing incident at the time of filing this report.
