Abuja, FCT—The Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, issued a stark and unequivocal caution on Friday, warning that the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) is currently facing an existential threat fuelled by internal actions. The eminent political figure asserted that the party’s current crisis is likely to prove fatal should its incumbent governors persist in sidelining key and historic stakeholders.
The Minister, speaking during his monthly media parley with journalists in Abuja, articulated his profound concern regarding the direction being taken by the main opposition party. The former Governor of Rivers State suggested that the continuous display of impunity and the exclusion of influential members by certain PDP leaders could ultimately “spell doom” for the organisation if not addressed with immediate effect.
Substantiating his warning, Wike lamented the current practice of convening important PDP “stakeholders” meetings while conspicuously excluding foundational members who do not currently hold the office of State Governor.
“Have I not said it before now that the way this present governors are doing, they will bury this party?” the Minister queried, adding that even in his capacity as the FCT Minister a critical national assignment his counsel is being overlooked.
He continued with an acerbic rhetorical challenge: “Are you telling me as it is today, because I’m not a governor, you go and hold PDP meetings, you call them stakeholders, and then you exclude me, and then you want to survive? Simply because I’m not a governor, I cannot be consulted in taking decisions of the party? Certainly not.”
Minister Wike drew a sharp contrast between the current fractured state of the party and his tenure as a state leader, noting that unity was maintained even through significant internal strife.
“When we are governors, why was it that no governor left? You see that we didn’t have problems? We fought to the chairman of the party. We’ve gone to the Supreme Court. You know that, why is it that people didn’t leave?” he stated, suggesting that the current wave of discord is avoidable.
He was highly critical of the apparent arrogance of some sitting governors, dismissing any notion that external forces were responsible for the PDP’s predicament. He charged that current leaders are relying excessively on their executive position and the attendant financial allocation to assume authority. “Is it the APC that’s making you to take the wrong decision?” he fired back, concluding that internal missteps, not opposition influence, are the party’s greatest peril.
The Minister’s pronouncements underscore the deep-seated friction between various blocs within the PDP, placing the party’s leadership under intense pressure to reconcile differences ahead of future electoral cycles.
