The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has strongly condemned the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) for sealing its national secretariat, Wadata Plaza, in Abuja on Monday.

Addressing journalists following a caucus meeting, the party’s Acting National Chairman, Umar Damagum, described the FCTA’s action as “irresponsible” and vowed that the PDP would challenge the move.

He announced that the caucus meeting has been adjourned to 10 a.m. on Tuesday.

When asked whether the PDP’s National Executive Council (NEC) meeting would still hold, Damagum declined to comment.

Earlier on Monday, officials of the FCTA sealed Wadata Plaza over unpaid ground and tenancy rents. According to Lere Olayinka, Senior Special Assistant on Public Communications and Social Media to FCT Minister Nyesom Wike, the building owes N7,603,504.31 in ground rent arrears spanning 28 years.

“Wadata Plaza, being used as the PDP National Secretariat, owes N7,603,504.31 as 28 years’ ground rent,” Olayinka wrote on his Facebook page shortly after the building was sealed.

The PDP headquarters was not the only structure affected. Other buildings sealed on Monday include those housing a commercial bank, the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), and the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP), all located in Wuse Zone 5.

According to Olayinka, the FIRS alone has not paid ground rent for 25 years.

The action comes months after the FCTA disclosed that it had lost over N6 billion in revenue due to widespread non-compliance with ground rent payments by property owners over the past decade.