Heavy security was deployed at the national headquarters of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Abuja as former Vice Chairman for PDP North Central, Abdulrahman Mohammed, resumed his role as the party’s acting national chairman.

Earlier, Mohammed and his supporters gathered at the FCT office of the PDP, where he addressed the crowd, confirming that he would be taking over as acting national chairman.

Mohammed was declared acting national chairman by the Samuel Anyanwu-led National Working Committee (NWC) following the suspension of the party’s National Chairman, Umar Damagum, and National Publicity Secretary, Debo Ologunagba.

The crisis in the opposition party escalated over the weekend as the national chairman, Umar Damagum, along with some members of the National Working Committee (NWC), announced the suspension of the party’s National Secretary, Samuel Anyanwu, National Organising Secretary Umar Bature, and other principal officers.

In a swift counter, Samuel Anyanwu led a separate faction of the NWC to suspend Damagun, National Publicity Secretary Debo Ologunagba, and four other principal officers of the party, deepening the ongoing leadership crisis within the PDP.

While Samuel Anyanwu-led acting national chairman Abdulrahman Mohammed resumed at the PDP national headquarters on Monday, Damagum and members of the National Working Committee loyal to him were conspicuously absent.