• Says Jonathan hasn’t informed him about running in 2027
• Despite challenges, PDP will reclaim power in 2027 – Lawal
• Party’s Northwest elders forum kicks over mass defection
Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, yesterday warned the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governors that their strategy of excluding him from key party decisions will lead to the party’s collapse.
Wike, who gave the warning at a monthly live media parley monitored by our correspondent in Abuja, expressed his frustration at being sidelined from major consultations despite his long-standing influence in the party.
“Have I not said it before now that the booby trap you are setting will consume you? The way these present governors are doing, they will bury this party,” he said.
The FCT Minister directly challenged the logic of his exclusion, asking whether his current role as a minister or his past contributions rendered him irrelevant.
“I am the FCT Minister. Are you telling me that because I am not a governor, you will hold a PDP stakeholders’ meeting and exclude me, and then expect the party to survive?” he asked.
Wike dismissed the idea that the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) was to blame for the PDP’s internal crises, asserting that the problems were self-inflicted.
He said: “All these talks about APC are rubbish. Is it APC that makes you take wrong decisions? You mean two or three people, because they are governors and receive large allocations, will go and decide, and you tell me to follow? Follow who?”
On the upcoming PDP national convention, the minister accused the party leadership of failing to complete essential groundwork.
“If they do the right thing, will anybody stall the convention? They have not done the congresses and other things that should be in place,” he said.
His warning comes as the PDP grapples with internal defections and legal battles threatening its planned convention slated for November 15 and 16 in Ibadan, Oyo State.
He said: “Have I not said that so many governors will leave? Is this the first time you have heard me say so? It is very embarrassing. The governor was the Chairman of the Convention Committee. It is very embarrassing.
“Diri was the Chairman of the Zoning Committee, even though I knew from the beginning that they were all playing games. I knew from the beginning. I said it before. There is nothing I said that has not come to pass,” he said.
With what is going on politically, Wike said, PDP will continue to lose if there is no change.
“It is very embarrassing. I knew from the beginning that some PDP members were playing games. The house has (collapsed) since. PDP did not do the right thing. They should follow due process to the national convention.
“If you think you will sideline people to hold the convention, it will not be possible. If a proper convention is to be held, I will attend. But if the convention is not a proper one, I will not attend.
Wike said the leadership had failed to complete necessary congresses and other key processes, which he claimed were stalling progress.
“If they do the right thing, will anybody stall the convention? They have not done the congresses and other things that should be in place,” he said.
The PDP has, in recent months, faced internal crises and a wave of defections involving top members including Governors Peter Mbah, Sheriff Oborevwori and Umo Enoh of Enugu, Delta and Akwa Ibom states respectively.
The party is also battling multiple legal suits over its forthcoming convention.
He added: “Assuming I am not a minister, by the role I have played in the PDP till now, is it right to say I cannot be consulted in taking decisions of the party? Certainly not.”
Wike further criticized the notion that internal crises could be blamed on the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), insisting that PDP’s problems were self-inflicted.
“All these talks about APC are rubbish. Is it APC that makes you take wrong decisions? You mean two or three people, because they are governors and receive large allocations, will go and decide, and you tell me to follow? Follow who?”
On the stance of Wike on Jonathan running for the 2027 presidential elections, the minister disclosed that former President Goodluck Jonathan has not informed him about any plan to contest the 2027 presidential election.
The minister said: “You’re the one telling me here. Jonathan has never told me; he has never called me one day, ‘Look, I’m being pressured to run, what’s your thinking’? If he calls me and asks me, I will be able to tell him my mind and what I feel.”
He added: “I will not because you people put something on the pages of the newspapers, just like you said they flew me out of the country—then, I now assume it’s correct.”
On the emergence of former Minister of Special Duties and Intergovernmental Affairs, Kabiru Tanimu Turaki (SAN), as the consensus candidate for the position of National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Wike distanced himself from the development, saying he knows nothing about it.
“I don’t know about Tanimu Turaki becoming chairman; maybe he becomes chairman for another faction—it’s not the PDP I know,” he stated.
The PDP northern stakeholders had recently endorsed Turaki as their consensus candidate ahead of the party’s national convention scheduled for November 15 and 16 in Ibadan, Oyo State.
Speaking further, Wike dismissed the upcoming convention as illegal, hinting that he would not attend.
“How do you want me to attend a convention that I know by law that there is no convention?” he queried.
On the ongoing trial of Nnamdi Kanu, the minister said he was ready to appear as a witness of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) leader if subpoenaed by the court.
His comment followed a motion filed by Kanu at the Federal High Court in Abuja on Tuesday, notifying the court of his plan to open his defence on October 24, 2025.
The IPOB leader indicated his intention to call 23 witnesses, including Wike, former Minister of Defence Gen. Theophilus Danjuma (rtd), and former Chief of Army Staff Gen. Tukur Buratai (rtd).
Wike, however, clarified that he had not requested to be named as a witness and had not received any legal notification from the court. He said he would only appear if formally summoned.
“If you see Nnamdi Kanu, ask him why he listed me. I did not go to him to say I want to be a witness; you are the one saying that. So, if you see him, ask him why did you list Wike as one of your witnesses?
“You don’t become a witness by reading a newspaper. Nobody has served me process; nobody has subpoenaed me.
“So, because I saw Wike has been listed, therefore, I begin to run helter-skelter. No, you do not do that. If I am served, if I am subpoenaed to come and witness or to give evidence, I must obey the court, I must appear,” he said.
Wike also reacted to recent comments by a former Labour Party presidential candidate, Peter Obi, on the poor state of public schools in the FCT.
The Nation reports that Obi, during a recent visit to the LEA Primary School in FCT, had decried the deplorable condition of learning facilities, noting that he was shocked to find classrooms without chairs or toilets.
The former Anambra State governor described the situation as “unacceptable and unworthy of a responsible nation.”
Responding, Wike said his administration was aware of the infrastructural decay in some parts of the FCT but insisted that it was unrealistic to expect every problem to be solved immediately.
Wike said: “I heard him when he was saying that public schools are in dilapidated nature across the Federal Capital Territory. We cannot solve every problem as far as development is concerned. Government is a continuum. There were several administrations before we came, and other administrations will come after us.”
The minister maintained that the FCT Administration was making steady progress under the Renewed Hope agenda of President Tinubu, particularly in infrastructure, education, and health care, noting that development would be implemented in phases.
Wike added that while constructive criticism was welcomed, stakeholders should acknowledge ongoing efforts to improve living standards across the federal capital territory.
PDP will reclaim power in 2027 despite challenges – Lawal
Zamfara State governor, Dauda Lawal, said yesterday that Leaders of the main opposition People’s Democraatic Party (PDP) must lay aside personal interests and prejudices to rebuild a party ready to reclaim from the ruling All Progressives Congress in 2027.
Governor Lawal, who spoke shortly after the inaugural meeting of the accreditation sub-committee for the elective national convention in Ibadan, said history favours the party to reclaim power in 2027 despite the challenges it is presently confronted with.
He said: “Let me take you back to history. In 2015, when PDP had over 29 to 30 governors, what happened at the end of the day? I’m sure you’ll be the judge. So as I said, no shaking, no alarm.
“Our great party is a family, and like any family, we may have disagreements. It is inevitable no matter what we do. It’s just a matter of time. But the overall interest of this collective family must supersede individual ambitions.
“We as leaders remain steadfast in our resolve to provide unbiased and selfless service to consensus and build a convention that is truly all-inclusive. A great thinker once said alone we can do so little, together we can do so much. This word resonates deeply today.
“We must stand together, we must work together, we must heal together. As you come on this way to your assignment, I pray for the divine intervention and wisdom, as well as guidance from each one of you.
“I wish to make a heartfelt appeal to all of us. Leadership comes with a lot of responsibility. But I believe all of us were carefully selected because we have what it takes to provide that leadership.
“Let us set aside our differences. Let us embrace the spirit of genuine reconciliation.”
Reacting to a statement by the National Organising Secretary about the choice of former Minister for Special Duties as the consensus candidate of the North as Chairman of the PDP, Governor Lawal said: “I don’t think that should be something we should be concerned about, because politics is about give and take.
“No matter who is selected, there will always be agitation from the other members. So it’s normal. It is something that is internal and we are working on making sure everybody is on board so that we can have a very, very successful convention.”
Speaking on the work of the accreditation committee, he said: “We are here to lay the foundation for an event that will define our future. The national convention in Ibadan come November 2025 under the able leadership of His Excellency Rt Hon Omar Madufintri, the executive governor of Adana state as well as the chairman of the national convention organising committee.
“We have begun a journey and today we are bringing on board one of the most vital engines, which is the accreditation committee. To the men and women selected to serve on this sub-committee, I extend a special welcome.
“You have been chosen not for a routine task but for one of the most critical assignments in our democratic process.
“The work you are about to undertake is the very foundation upon which a credible transparent and successful convention will be built.
“The mandate of this committee is a very heavy burden and your responsibilities are very clear.”
Party’s Northwest elders’ forum kicks over mass defection
The recent defection of thousands of opposition PDP members wooed by the Minister of State for Defence, Mohammed Bello Matawalle to APC has stirred a fresh round of lamentation by the Northern Elders Unity Forum of opposition party.
They have accused the Minister of coercing officials and ardent supporters of the PDP holding positions in Zamfara and Kaduna states respectively to join the ruling APC at the centre, urging President Bola Tinubu to call the minister to order.
The Forum described the actions of the minister as attempt to bring disrepute to the survival of the opposition party in the Northwest.
The PDP alleged that the minister lured innocent supporters of the party, using excessive resources to curry his way; a development they described as unhealthy for democracy.
The National Secretary of the Forum, Dr Abbas Sadauki (Dan Madamin Tofa), who condemned the actions and the process, said they were attempts to bring to disrepute the survival of opposition in the Northwest.
Sadauki spoke in Gusau, Zamfara State capital shortly after holding a meeting with party elders from Kaura Namoda, Zurmi, Tsafe and Bungudu local government areas of Zamfara State.
He described the Minister as a desperate politician who by all means wanted to destroy PDP in Zamfara and other states of the Northwest for the 2027 political ambition of his party, APC.
“It is evident that Matawalle has targeted some particular leaders of the party in the Northwest geopolitical zone,” he stressed.
However, Sadauki said the Minister’s antecedent of use of power and political appointments to coerce many of the PDP hard working and loyal members was clear.
“It has created a great vacuum within the party leadership, particularly in the Northwest,” he added, saying it is never a good omen for the country’s democratic process and progress.
“Taking this direction by Matawalle is crippling our party and democracy by misguiding them into believing that there is greener pasture defecting from PDP to ruling APC at the centre. This is injurious to the genuineness and progress of democracy in Nigeria,” the Forum Secretary said.
