Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, Nyesom Wike, has warned that the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP risked self-destruction if it brings back former Labour Party presidential candidate, Peter Obi and makes him candidate for 2027 presidential election.
Wike also said he was proud of PDP winning prominent local governments in Rivers local government elections.
The PDP won in Obio/Akpor, Port Harcourt and Ogba/ Egbema/Ndoni local government areas.
Speaking during his monthly media chat from his Life Camp official residence in Abuja on Monday, Wike said the PDP had not learned from past mistakes that cost it dearly in the 2023 general elections.
He recalled that he and other party leaders had repeatedly cautioned against allowing both the presidential candidate and the national chairman to come from the North, a move he insisted was unjust and politically suicidal.
“From day one, I told my colleagues, PDP, you are shooting yourself in the foot. If you allow what is going on to continue, you’ll pay. You cannot have the presidential candidate at the same time as the national chairman of the party from the same zone,” Wike said.
He accused the PDP of “stealing” both positions and ignoring calls for fairness and balance, a decision he argued contributed to the party’s loss at the polls.
“Is it better now? You stole the presidential ticket and again stole the national chairman. I said it will purge you. And it really purged them. I have no regret for it.”
He also dismissed talks of Obi’s return to the PDP to run for president, describing the move as suicidal for the party.
“Now bring Obi to where? You want to kill the party the more. He said the party was rotten, so the party is now good enough for him? Ambition can make people even go to Satan’s house,” Wike said.
Wike warned that if the Bauchi State governor, Mohammed Bala wants to destroy the party, he should go ahead with such plans.
“If you want to destroy this party, dare it, bring Obi. There’s no way he will come back just because of ambition and get ticket, they are no people in the PDP? No more ideology, no longer principle,” he added.
Wike maintained that he stood by his long-held position that equity, justice, and zoning remain the only viable path for the PDP to regain national relevance.
On the issue of single term that Peter Obi I’d campaigning on, Wike said they should stop deceiving Nigerians.
Wike said Obi was making promises of a one term presidency, insisting that such pledges are deceptive.
He said people like Malam Nasir El- Rufai, former governor of Kaduna State back that position but that it’s unrealistic for any presidential candidate to guarantee serving only one term.
According to him, political realities often shift once a person assumes office, making it impossible to rule out the possibility of seeking re-election.
The minister stated that circumstances may change if Obi ever gets into office as president.
“Even if you give him the six million votes back, all those who voted for him will continue to vote for him. What happened in 2023 will not be the same.
Wike said other interested aspirants like Rotimi Amaechi and Atiku Abubakar have declared their intentions to run under specific political parties, which one is Obi running in, he queried.
“They should know the platform. Is it December that he will mention it? Atiku has said he will run in the ADC, Amaechi said ADC, but he has not said where he will run.
“Why are you keeping your supporters guessing, so he goes where he likes and when we have finished working, he comes back because he’s a saint and there is nobody in PDP.”
Wike argued that Obi’s supporters were being misled, stressing that no president can genuinely commit to serving only one term.
He said when he gets there, things will change. That it’s only former president Jonathan that willingly relinquished power, where some one has sought third term, so they should stop deceiving Nigerians on that.
On the PDP fielding former president Good luck Ebele Jonathan, Wike said he has a lot of respect for Jonathan, that Jonathan functions well as elder states man now. He questioned the political clout of those wooing the former president to run under the PDP.
“Jonathan, I respect him very much, he’s an elder statesman now. The international community respect him too. Those wooing him, what is their strength, are there not the same people that destroyed him before?”
On Rivers State local government elections, Wike said he was proud of winning prominent local governments in the state.
He said Ohio/Akpor and Port Harcourt Local Government carries the decisive votes in any elections.
The former Rivers governor noted that some of his critics were upset that he did not extend his influence to other areas where the All Progressives Congress recorded won.
“So, Wike is very popular today. Is it not the same people I hear on Arise, AIT, and Channels saying Wike cannot determine what happens in other areas, that he can only influence his local government?
“Now you are angry that APC won in other local governments. That means you are questioning why I did not extend my influence to areas where I had none.
“The local government I won determines who wins what in the state. Every election has its own perception. Are people happy with what is happening in the PDP? Did PDP even contest in those local governments where APC won?” he asked.
Wike stressed that as a PDP member, he delivered his local government for the party.
“I influenced and campaigned for my people to vote for PDP, and they did. Now you are angry that APC won elsewhere. But I have said it before, my influence is in my own local government,” he added.
Speaking further, Wike explained that the PDP won Obio-Akpor Local Government Area with 328,823 votes because the residents of the council take local elections more seriously than general elections.
He said, Speaking about the number of votes scored by the PDP candidate, Wike said: “That’s the problem I have with you people (press). Go and study the history of election in Obio-Akpor LGA.
“In local government election, you know that the turnout will be more. Councillorship is like community or family affairs, people come out. People even take councillorship more seriously than governorship because it has to do with family or communities.
“I don’t know what your worry is. Is their worry that it is illegal, or your worries that you don’t believe that this number of people turned out?
“I was chairman of that local government, the record was very clear. Nobody had had two terms in that local government, but I broke that history. I was governor of that area. You can’t take my record away. You can’t beat the record.
“We won. And my people believe, whether you like it or not.”
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