By Omeiza Ajayi, ABUJA
Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, on Friday declared that the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, was “long dead”. He blamed the party’s woes on impunity, arrogance and disregard for internal democracy by some of its governors.
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Wike said this during his monthly media chat monitored in Abuja.
He added that the ongoing exodus of party members was not a surprise to him, insisting that “everything I warned about has come to pass.”
“Tsunami has been happening. Don’t you see people leaving their parties?” he asked. “I have always said from Day One that with what is going on, if it continues, the PDP will lose.
“I said it severally (several times) that if things were not done properly, we would regret it. And that is what is happening today.”
Wike, who served two terms as governor of Rivers State and was a key power broker in the PDP before joining the Tinubu administration, said it was “embarrassing” that governors who once presided over the party’s internal processes were now deserting it.
“Did I not say that so many governors would leave? The governor of Enugu was chairman of the PDP convention committee. Diri of Bayelsa was chairman of the zoning committee.
“Even though I knew from the beginning that they were playing games, I said it before, and there is nothing I said that has not come to pass,” he boasted.
Asked about allegations that he was responsible for the party’s collapse following the outcome of the 2022 presidential primaries, Wike laughed off the suggestion.
“Which house? The house that has died since? When you do the right thing, you get the right results. I told them when the issue of Secretary started: follow due process. But they said, ‘we are governors’.
“You see the result today. The matter even went to the Supreme Court, and yet they still couldn’t manage it. I said this would kill the party.”
The minister said the PDP had no moral standing to challenge the ruling APC in 2027, noting that “no opposition party carries on with such impunity”.
“You are supposed to put your house in order to take power from the ruling party. But instead, you are fighting yourselves. All you are interested in is that you are governors and whatever you say must stand whether it will help you or not,” he said.
‘Tinubu didn’t stop my media chat’
Reacting to social media claims that President Bola Tinubu had ordered him to suspend his monthly media chats, Wike said such reports were “laughable”.
“I don’t read all those junks. I am very focused. What we are doing under the Tinubu administration in the FCT, I owe it a duty to let the public know.
“I am not the spokesperson for the Federal Government. I only speak on FCT activities. How will the President ban me from letting the public know what we are doing? It is my responsibility,” he said.
On speculations about his health, he stated firmly: “Anybody can fall sick. But I was never sick or flown abroad. That story is false.”
Turaki’s nomination
Addressing reports that North-West PDP stakeholders had adopted former minister Tanimu Turaki as the party’s consensus national chairman, Wike denied any involvement in the internal wranglings that has trailed the nomination.
“So, anything that happens in the West, it is me. If it happens in the North, it is me. When you take wrong steps, you achieve nothing.
“The problem is that some people think being governors gives them the right to do anything. You hold crucial meetings without inviting certain leaders and expect unity? You will only end up with factions.”
Wike said it was hypocritical for the PDP to blame the APC or the Tinubu administration for its internal crisis.
“When Buhari was in power, the government then did everything to scatter the PDP, but we stood firm. Now, there is no such attempt, yet they are destroying the party by themselves. Who is pursuing who?” he asked.
He maintained that his long-standing role in building the PDP cannot be ignored by the governors or anyone.
“Even if I were not a minister today, the role I played in the PDP from its formation till now must be taken into account when decisions are made,” he warned.
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