On the other side stood the Wike-backed bloc, led by Samuel Anyanwu, the embattled National Secretary who insists that his tenure remains valid until December 8, 2025.

The Wike camp has refused to recognise the outcome of the Ibadan convention, describing it as illegitimate.

Tensions escalated earlier on Tuesday when Governor Makinde arrived at the party headquarters with Arapaja and other party stakeholders. Their presence was seen as a symbolic assertion of control by the newly elected leadership.

Meanwhile, Wike continued to align with Anyanwu, who maintains that no new secretary has been validly elected.

Security at the secretariat was heightened as both factions attempted to gain access to meeting halls, forcing police officers to intervene and prevent clashes.

Governor Mohammed maintained that the Oyo convention, which produced the new National Working Committee, had the full backing of the party’s highest decision-making organs. He said the Wike-backed faction lacked the legitimacy to challenge the outcome.

He said, “We don’t believe there is any BoT because that is an illegality. I think the media should also educate and inculcate a sense of orderliness in the political space, so that people will know precisely what you believe in, because the shenanigans the perception should be positive.

“We had a convention where some people were expelled, and then, of course, even INEC does not recognise them, and they are being backed by the police to come and do a charade BoT meeting.

“BoT is constituted by the NWC. They don’t have NWC, and they don’t have a constitution. Our constitution says it all; if I’m expelled, I’m expelled, and it is not me or Seyi Makinde or any person; it is the convention of over 20 states of the Federation. The showdown you are seeing is a showdown between good and bad.”

Reminded that the Wike group does not believe in the outcome of the convention, and that Anyanwu has vowed to serve out his tenure as the party’s secretary, Mohammed added, “The Convention has already dissolved his own time so the convention can obstruct any NWC anywhere.”

Asked if the new chairman, Turaki, is recognised by the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, he said, “Yes, he is. He’s recognised by INEC because it’s a legal issue.”

He said the speculation that INEC does not recognise the new chairman “is a creation of one man called Wike who thinks that he can continue to pollute the political space by showing gangsterism, animism and illegalism, and by so doing, he is not helping even the present administration.

“All the governors are here, all the senators, all the members of the House of Representatives. Why is the media backing them, as if they have something in common with us?

The police should know that this is not a faction. It is just a splinter group that wants to battle and destroy PDP, destroy the opposition, and by doing so, destroy democracy in Nigeria… because they are illiterate. They are driven by arrogance, illiteracy, and impunity by impulse.

“So, after the convention, we have already sent all the reports to INEC, and INEC is not obliged or forced to attend any convention or any political party. Have you ever seen APC doing any conventions? Did you ask them? But they have leaders, and they are recognised by INEC. Why must we be the only people that you assess?”

He further stated, “The Constitution does not force INEC to be there, but we must give them notice. We gave them notice, and they accepted and acknowledged. We have the acknowledgement that they got the notice if they decide not to come, that is their own free volition, but certainly we have documents that we have notified them duly, and they accepted.

“So, the convention is legal, because all the court orders have been set aside by the courts, because we have already made a plea, and it has been put aside. So people should know the process of our legal system.”

On where he sees the crisis ending, should the Wike group refuse to back down, he said, “They are just being supported by the police, and you, the media, too. You don’t tell them the truth, but they should know that it has come to an end. That’s the end of hooliganism.

“They should go and leave us alone. Must we be with them, this man? Why is he working? Is he not working with APC? Why didn’t you ask him? Why is it moral for him to say that he will be in the APC to destroy us? Is it moral for him to say that? Is it normal that he’s working for somebody, and he said, “We will not produce somebody?”