Powerful is not the word I would use. They are influential in a sense. There are several layers to the nightmare that is the current state of affairs in Puntland.
1. The Ciise Maxamuud clan demand their turn on the rotational presidency of Puntland. They do not have very strong or educated candidates really, and there is not much financial support. The Arab world is also getting tired of supporting random Somali politicians. They do have resources from what they were able to get their hands on during the first four years of Denis presidency and also whatever they grabbed during Gaas. They are not militarily strong, the Ciise Maxamuud are/were a rather peaceful Somali clan. They do have some new equipment that Hassan Shire Abgaal was able to get his hands on while he was Minister of Finance and leading the restructuring and retraining of Puntland forces. Most of their stuff is Faroole era vehicles and weapons that they have stored at Ligle, in Eyl and just down the street from Madaxtooyada Puntland, near the Ministry of Finance.
2. Mideeye, namely the Diana brothers and their uncle Boqor Burhan, absolutely hate Deni and want to challenge him in every way possible. Because he challenged their illegal warlord system, funded by the CIA, in Bosaso. Because of this we saw the fighting in Bosaso, the Bosaso Prison Raid, etc. They are heavily armed and are willing to burn Garowe to the ground in order to remove Said Deni from power. Once they do this, they probably will take the seat by force or hand it to a Ciise Mohamud puppet of their liking. Obviously, the Ciise Mahamud, will not allow Garowe to burn to a crisp. It is a beautiful town, the capital city of Puntland and they have really thrived since the creation of the state. Once those PSF flare shells illuminate the night sky, and there are nocturnal war operations in Garowe, they will def try to calm this down.
3. Said Deni, the guy is always PISSED, and he is really trying to replicate Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed. He did this by attempting to take the national Presidency after holding office in Puntland with an iron fist. He is not a nice or friendly dude, and is willing to use violence. He has already done this on numerous occasions. He has the support of the UAE-backed Puntland Maritime Police Force, The Puntland Special Police (Birmadka Puntland), and maybe even regular Puntland police, under Mumin Abdi Shire. He also has some Omar Mohamud and other Reer Mudug peoples siding with him, because they believe the Ciise Mohamud political group, the Aaran Jaan, abused them and Abdiweli Gaas during their term in office. They also seem to be liking the opportunity to choose their own leader through a popular vote. They also see General Asad and Boqor Burhan as the enemies of Puntland, for reasons I do not know. He is also financially stable and may even have funding and support from the UAE and other Somali businessmen in Mogadishu, Nairobi, Dubai, Zambia and the West.
TLDR -- Puntland is in for a pretty epic showdown unless Deni accepts the corrupted clan model election, and gives into the wishes of these men. The opposition is not united at all. They all have separate interests. The likelihood of violence is very high. Let us see what Deni says tomorrow. Keep the innocent civilians in your prayers. Although alot of the civilians are privy to this and supporting one side or another, instead of protesting, calling for a cessation of hostilies, and dialogue.