Nyesom Wike, the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, has come under fire from the Peoples Democratic Party and Obidient Movement for ruling out the prospect of Peter Obi, running for president under the PDP ticket in 2027.
According to previous media reports, Obi and former President Goodluck Jonathan have been discussing re-joining the PDP to run against President Bola Tinubu in the 2027 election with opposition leaders, though this has not been formally confirmed.
Wike responded by cautioning against such plans, stating that putting Jonathan or Obi forward as the PDP’s nominee may ” destroy the party.”
The minister also berated the PDP’s decision to keep the party chairmanship in the North while allocating its 2027 presidential ticket to the South during his monthly media parley in Abuja on Monday.
He pointed out that in the run-up to the general elections in 2023, he had warned against ignoring this balance.
He argued that Obi’s return would only make the party’s problems worse and that the former governor of Anambra State lacked political integrity after calling the PDP “rotten.”
“Right from day one, I did say, with my colleagues, you are shooting yourselves, and if you allow what is happening to continue, you will pay. And what did we say? You cannot have the presidential candidate and, at the same time, the national chairman of the party. Now, you have stolen the presidential ticket; they stole it. And again, stole the National Chairman. I said it would purge you. And it really purged them.
Responding to the ministers remarks, Ibrahim Tsauri, a former PDP National Secretary and National Executive Committee member, asserted that Wike was instrumental in Obi’s 2022 departure from the party.
Tsauri claimed that Obi’s rejoining the PDP will be advantageous for the party as well as the former governor of Anambra State in an exclusive interview.
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He stated, “That is the beauty of democracy. In a democracy, you can sit down and make your insinuations. Even if it doesn’t work, you say it out loud and go back and sleep. No politician belonging to any political party will tell you that if somebody joins the political party, the party is going to die or that it will be the end of the party.
“It means that particular person is not a true member of that political party. And not only that, a man like Peter Obi, who came third during the last presidential election, you tell Nigerians that the party will die if he comes into that particular political party.
“The fact of the matter is that the Minister of the FCT, as every other Nigerian knows, is working to destroy the PDP. Whether Peter Obi comes in or stays out, his (Wike) work is to destroy the PDP. So, he doesn’t need to threaten anybody, or to frighten anybody, or to intimidate anybody. If Peter Obi wants to come to the PDP, he will come to the PDP.
“If Peter Obi comes to the PDP, and even former President Goodluck Jonathan, I am telling you, he will help the PDP to grow and to return to its former strength. The PDP will also help him. To me, former President Jonathan and Peter Obi are welcome into the PDP. And if they come, I am sure they will be given fair treatment like any other member of the PDP.”
Similarly, Timothy Osadolor, the PDP’s Deputy National Youth Leader and a member of the National Executive Committee, told THE PUNCH in an exclusive interview that Obi, like all Nigerians, would be accepted into the party in accordance with the party’s and Nigeria’s constitution.
In a swift reaction, Obi, through his former campaign spokesman and National Coordinator of the Obidient Movement Worldwide, Dr Yunusa Tanko, tackled Wike’s frequent attacks, describing them as an obsession.
Tanko said, “It is quite surprising. These continuous media parleys that Wike hosts every month are becoming worrisome. Is it the duty of the FCT minister to do so, or does he prefer to waste taxpayers’ money?
“He is not the Governor of the FCT or the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. He is just a minister. Even the President does not do this monthly show of shame. That is what I will call it.
“Instead of him giving a monthly account of the money given to him as the FCT minister, he is busy engaging in trivial issues, which are political and not even part of his schedule of duty.
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