The Minister of the Federal Capital Territory and former Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike, has announced his withdrawal from all previously reached agreements within the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) on the grounds of alleged dishonesty, treachery, and betrayal by some stakeholders.
Wike, a founding member of the party and power broker in its internal politics, laid bare what he described as a pattern of deceit led primarily by Oyo State Governor Seyi Makinde, whom he called the “architect of our problems.”
“Since after the 2023 general election, the PDP has been wantonly swinging from one part of a slippery precipice to another, owing fundamentally to dishonesty and lack of trust amongst its key stakeholders,” Wike said in a statement he signed on Sunday.
The FCT Minister added, “To stem this ugly trend, efforts have been made to arrest this pernicious virus of dishonesty and treachery and enthrone fidelity to agreements with a view to stabilizing the party and moving it forward.”
The crisis has worsened despite several high-level meetings aimed at reconciling aggrieved factions.
A Lagos meeting of the G5 governors and an expanded session in Abuja involving Governors Seyi Makinde, Umaru Fintri, Bala Mohammed,l and party elders, including former Senate President Bukola Saraki, had led to some resolutions meant to stabilise the party.
At the end of the meeting, they came to some resolutions, including:
A. That Senator Samuel Anyanwu remains the National Secretary of the PDP in tandem with the Supreme Court judgement.
B. All legal matters relating to Rivers State must be withdrawn by the National Legal Adviser.
C. The suit on the State of emergency be withdrawn forthwith.
D. Nobody should deviate from the agreements so reached.
But Wike recounted the meeting, saying, “In that meeting, I made it clear that I had no personal problems with HE. Bala Mohammed, except that he hides under the facade of Chairman of PDP Governors Forum to serially renege on agreements. Tensions rose mightily in the meeting and it took all concerned to calm frayed nerves.”
“they pleaded with me to attend the stakeholders’ meeting at the Bauchi Government Lodge,” Wike said he honoured, and “reiterated my earlier concerns, and to this end and in order to resolve all other lingering and pending issues, a committee was formed, headed by HE. Bukola Saraki,” only to see agreements violated shortly thereafter.
According to Wike, Makinde and Governor Peter Mbah of Enugu State undermined the consensus by backing Ude Okoye for National Secretary, and threatened to pull out of the PDP if their demand wasn’t met.
He alleged that Makinde orchestrated a fraudulent process at the National Secretariat, installing the Deputy National Secretary as acting Secretary in a direct breach of their resolutions.
Furthermore, Wike pointed to a rebuttal letter—allegedly ordered by Makinde and Mbah; that discredited a candidacy letter for the Anambra State governorship election signed by Senator Anyanwu and the acting National Chairman.
This, he said, is part of an ongoing pattern of illegality and confusion that recently led to the abortion of a properly convened PDP zonal congress in Jos, after the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) refused to attend due to irregular signatures.
“This is undeniably distasteful, provocative and annoying, to say the least,” he said.
Wike highlighted his decades-long commitment to the PDP since 1998, while noting his role in the electoral victories of many current governors, without asking for anything in return.
“I have painstakingly put out all these facts so that PDP members and the general public would know the truth. I have been in this party since 1998 and have worked tirelessly for the survival of this party with all my strength and it is on record that none of these persons have done anything close to what I have done to sustain this party. What is more painful is that I contributed substantially to most of these governors winning their elections, yet I have not made any personal demands on any of them and I would never do so.
“I had thought that we could keep the trust amongst us, but since it is now obvious that they would continue to play games to the detriment of the party, as is the case in the current debacle in the North-Central zonal elections, I have now firmly decided to pull out of all agreements hitherto reached. I have decided to fight on until justice is attained.”
