A former Presidential Media Adviser, Umar Sani, has accused the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, of deliberately destabilising the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), saying the party’s internal crisis is driven by resistance to Wike’s influence rather than personal animosity.
Naijaonpoint reports that Sani made the allegation on Saturday while speaking on ARISE News, where he addressed the rift between Wike and PDP governors, the leadership tussle within the party, and the implications for the opposition ahead of the 2027 general elections.
According to him, the ongoing disputes are symptomatic of deeper problems within the PDP.
“You can’t take people all the time you are in crisis. You are fighting this, you are fighting that,” he said. “The reason why all these things are happening, they don’t have any problem with him, neither does he have any problem with them. But it is the problem of the PDP.”
Sani said tensions worsened after it became clear that Wike would have no influence in the current National Working Committee of the PDP.
“This is the first time that the party will make a National Working Committee without him having any single member,” he said. “And he believes the party should have allowed him to have a member.
“But they felt, no, you cannot eat your cake and have it. You cannot be working for APC and then want to be imposing people on us in the PDP.”
He dismissed Wike’s legal challenges to party processes as unfounded.
“All those things he is saying, the issues he took to court and so forth, they are just tissues of lies,” Sani said.
He added that the PDP met constitutional requirements for its convention, noting that congresses were held in the required number of states.
“If you are going to a convention, what is required is two-thirds of the states, and we have two-thirds of the states going to that convention,” he said. “So for him to be trying to delegitimise the convention by saying we had 16 states without congresses is false.”
Reacting to allegations by Seyi Makinde that Wike promised to weaken the PDP to benefit President Bola Ahmed Tinubu in 2027, Sani said he believed the Oyo governor.
“I don’t believe that Governor Makinde will just flagrantly come out to lie against Wike,” he said. “He is not known to be a liar.”
On claims by Bala Mohammed that Wike influenced anti-graft actions against him, Sani alleged undue influence in Abuja and criticised the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
“This EFCC is a case study in how EFCC should not function,” he said. “The only people they go after are the opposition. Once you go back to APC, the matter is shut down.”
Despite the turmoil, Sani expressed confidence that the PDP would overcome its crisis through the courts.
“The Supreme Court has clearly stated that INEC has no business interfering in the internal affairs of political parties,” he said.
He dismissed claims that the PDP was finished ahead of 2027, insisting the party would rebound once legal issues were resolved.
“Once the PDP is able to surmount this in good time and the judgment comes, the traffic will shift,” he said. “All routes will now lead to the PDP.”
On Peter Obi’s move to the African Democratic Congress, Sani said the former Labour Party presidential candidate could still return.
“We are still expecting him to come back,” he said. “Once he is denied the ticket there, he has only one option, to come back to the PDP, and when he comes back, we will give him the ticket.”
Sani said Wike should leave the PDP if he believes the party cannot survive without him.
“As far as we are concerned, we want him to leave,” he said. “We cannot harbour somebody who is very destructive.”
However, he added that reconciliation remained possible.
“If he realises what he has done is wrong and comes back and says, ‘Please accept me,’ of course we will accept him back,” Sani said. “The issue of the prodigal son.”