The Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, has laid out specific conditions for the forthcoming national convention of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), emphasizing that these terms are vital for achieving lasting peace within the party.
During a media briefing, Wike reiterated his continued membership in the PDP and insisted that the party must uphold the resolutions from the South-South Zonal Congress held in Calabar before proceeding with its national convention scheduled for November.
“If they want another round of crisis, so be it. That congress moved that Chief Dan Orbih emerged as the National Vice Chairman South-South of the party. The court allowed it for the congress to hold and the congress was held. The so-called acting National Chairman of the Party went and wrote a letter to INEC.
The congress was held on Saturday on the 15th and he went and wrote a letter on the 8th, for example, that the Congress had been postponed. Chief Dan Orbih is the National Vice Chairman of PDP, South-South. If they don’t agree, that is another round of crisis.”
Wike also challenged the legitimacy of the South-East Zonal Congress, claiming it was flawed due to a court decision.
“Two, the South-East Congress which produced Chief Ali Odefa as the National Vice Chairman cannot stand because the court had affirmed that Odefa is no longer a member of the party.
That is what I told the people, that I cannot allow impunity and will fight it until they correct it. There is time for them to resolve before we talk of convention. If it is not resolved, that is an invitation to crisis,” Wike warned.
On a separate note, Wike disclosed that the emergency rule currently in place in Rivers State is expected to end soon. He credited this optimism to President Bola Tinubu’s directive for local government elections to be held within 30 days—significantly shorter than the previously anticipated 360-day timeline.
He explained that President Tinubu had no intention of prolonging the emergency period, adding that doing so would not benefit the people of Rivers State. He also reaffirmed the constitutional authority of the state administrator, Vice Admiral Ibok-Ete Ibas, to oversee the elections and facilitate the restoration of democratic processes at the grassroots level.
In a more controversial turn, Wike launched a blistering attack on former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, calling him a habitual political defector and criticizing his motives for allegedly forming a coalition against President Bola Tinubu’s potential re-election bid in 2027.
“You can’t change it. Atiku was in PDP in 1999. Have you forgotten? Under Obasanjo he had problem. Then he later joined ACN controlled by Bola Tinubu, who is incidentally the president now.
After ACN, he came back to PDP. Is that not correct? Then what happened? He moved back to APC. From APC again, he came back to PDP – just to get presidential ticket every time! From PDP now, he has gone to ADC again.
Kai, let me tell you something. If I am his son, I will sit him down and say ‘Dad, whatever it is, how can you tell me as your son… You have made this history of jumping from one party till you are almost 80 something years. How?” he said.
Wike dismissed Atiku’s latest defection to the African Democratic Congress (ADC) as a self-serving move rather than a patriotic one, questioning the former vice president’s track record.
“He was the vice-president for eight years and Chairman of National Economic Council under President Obasanjo.”
He continued his criticism by asserting that Atiku and other prominent PDP defectors only joined the APC because they no longer had influence within the PDP.
“All this had to do with presidential ambition. The way PDP is now, it is not likely that Atiku will get the ticket and he is no longer comfortable. Then he goes to tell you, ‘let’s go and do coalition against Tinubu’. Is it not correct? It is because he cannot get the Presidential ticket under PDP,” Wike said.
The FCT Minister also took aim at the interim National Chairman of the ADC, Senator David Mark. According to Wike, earlier efforts to install Mark as the PDP’s National Chairman representing the North-Central region were rejected—long before the party’s defeat in the 2023 general elections.
“We refused. What change would he bring to the party? He was the Senate President for eight years. What happened? What improved? I have said I preferred someone who had not held any position.
I would not listen to anybody who has been in power for donkey years and who has refused to contribute anything to the development of the country. And now, you come to tell me this story that ‘look, we need to rescue this country’. You were there when the country was sinking. Did you rescue it?”
Wike’s latest remarks are expected to stir fresh debates within the PDP and intensify discussions ahead of the party’s national convention.
