The newly elected factional National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party, Kabiru Turaki, has appealed to United States President Donald Trump and the international community to intervene in Nigeria’s worsening political situation.
He warned that the nation’s democracy was “under threat” amid an escalating internal crisis within the PDP that erupted into chaos in Abuja.
Speaking to journalists outside the party’s national secretariat in Wadata Plaza on Tuesday, Turaki described the country’s political situation as so dire and alarming that it necessitated urgent international attention and intervention.
Turaki also accused the faction loyal to the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, of mobilising armed thugs to disrupt party activities and prevent his faction from accessing the premises.
He said, “I want to call on President Trump. What is at stake is not just genocide against Christians; he should come and save democracy in Nigeria. Democracy is under threat. I am calling all other developed nations, all advanced democracies, come and save Nigeria.”
Turaki further declared that his faction’s leaders were prepared to make the ultimate sacrifice to defend the party’s mandate and Nigeria’s democracy.
“I have said it, we are willing to lay down our lives to protect our office, to protect democracy and to protect our mandate,” he added.
His remarks came just minutes before rival factions clashed at the secretariat, where both the Turaki-led National Working Committee and the Wike-backed group led by the factional National Secretary, Samuel Anyanwu, had scheduled parallel National Executive Committee and Board of Trustees meetings on the same day.
The teargas caused panic, with party members, staff, and journalists coughing and fleeing in disarray.
Outside the secretariat, supporters from the opposing camps continued their clash, which further intensified the standoff around the troubled opposition party.
By Olugbenga Ige
