By Desire Emmanuel
The Peoples Democratic Party PDP on Monday disclosed that the media chat by the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) has shown that he is the ‘Number One supporter ‘ of the 2027 presidential ambition of Bola Tinubu.
The main opposition party also declared that this anti-party activity was the basis for the expulsion of Wike from the party.
The PDP has split into two groups with one of them loyal to Wike while the other group has expelled him from the party. The group loyal to Wike has formed its own National Executive Council as well as the Board of Trustees.
However, reacting to Wike’s media chat, the PDP that described itself as the authentic party disclosed in a statement by Ini Ememobong, the National Publicity Secretary, that with what he said during the media chat, Wike and his group of friends have openly chosen to work against the PDP’s collective interest in favour of an opposing political platform.
The statement reads: “By his end-of-year media chat, Minister Nyesom Wike has reiterated his support for, and in fact declared that he is the “Number one supporter” of the presumptive candidate of the All Progressives Congress in the 2027 presidential election, while remaining a member of the Peoples Democratic Party, confirming the basis of his expulsion from the PDP for anti-party activities.
“This fact, which he has unashamedly reiterated in several places, is nothing less than a locus classicus of anti-democratic adventurism.
“However, this attitude of Nyesom Wike is not new, as he has been a constant agent provocateur in the political space, creating trouble to mask his selfish intentions.
“Since he assumed power as governor in Rivers State in 2015, Wike has been a recurrent troublemaker in the leadership of the PDP. From the Sheriff era, where he was a forerunner in the Sheriff-for-National Chairman movement and later turned to fight and remove Sheriff; later he championed the Uche Secondus-for-National Chairman movement (in fact, he granted a very combustible interview that polarized the party just before the convention) and then was the same person fighting to remove Secondus. The same Wike led the movement to produce Dr. Iyorchia Ayu as National Chairman against the advice of many party leaders, and so soon thereafter, it was Wike again who led the Ayu-must-go struggle.
“Beyond the national leadership crises, his actions within Rivers State further illustrate this pattern.
“The imposition of candidates, internal exclusionary practices, and the unprecedented prevention of a duly nominated PDP presidential candidate from campaigning in a PDP-controlled state remain troubling departures from democratic norms.
“Wike’s politics thrives on perpetual conflict, feeding on attention and seeking relevance through calculated disruption and when starved of attention, seeks to destroy everything.
“All through the interview, Wike showed obvious signs of fear of losing the attention of the president, his slipping grip of Rivers State, and his frustration with the unbending nature of the true leadership of the PDP at the national level.
“The cumulative effect of these actions is a deliberate creation of tension and division, often deployed as leverage to advance narrow political objectives. Recent public statements and alignments now make clear that Wike and his group of friends have openly chosen to work against the PDP’s collective interest in favour of an opposing political platform.
“Now that the mask of his pretence is off and he has stated that he and his group of friends will support the president and the APC in the presidential elections, Nigerians are now clearly aware of their disposition to destroy the PDP as a part of their bargain to support the president-a clandestine agreement reached for their selfish reasons. We remind Wike that as a lawyer, he knows that agreements made to achieve an illegal purpose are not enforceable and should not be encouraged.
“We assure Nigerians that the PDP will field a credible presidential candidate who will receive the massive support of Nigerians and will go on to win the presidential elections in 2027. Our party is the Peoples Democratic Party, and no one person has the capacity to personalize the party.
“The Kabiru Turaki-led National Working Committee is working around the clock to rebuild the party, clear the issues in court, and prepare the party for electoral success come 2027.”
