Some chieftains of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) have challenged Nyesom Wike, the former governor of Rivers State and current Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, claiming that he cannot disintegrate the party.
Wike, addressing the PDP secretariat in Port Harcourt, the capital of Rivers State, on Saturday at the party’s state congress, urged PDP governors not to interfere with the party’s business in Rivers, threatening to “put fire in their states.”
He stated, “Let me assure all of you, not while we live will anybody take away the structure of the PDP from us. But let me tell people, I hear some governors who say they will take over the structure and give back to somebody.
“I pity those governors because I will put fire in their states. When God has given you peace, you say you don’t want peace—anything you see you take.”
Wike’s remarks come after the PDP Governors’ Forum, led by its Chairman Gov. Bala Mohammed, requested a review of the party congress results to reinstate incumbent Governor Siminalayi Fubara’s leadership during their convention in Taraba State on August 23.
Prior to the Taraba summit, administration in Rivers State was in turmoil due to a conflict of interest between Wike and Governor Fubara, both PDP members.
This disagreement over party control split the state House of Assembly in two, with two Speakers loyal to Wike and his successor, Fubara.
Efforts by President Bola Tinubu and other prominent figures to mediate between the two factions have failed, with both groups refusing to sheathe their swords.
In an exclusive interview with The Punch on Sunday, Ibrahim Abdullahi, PDP Deputy National Publicity Secretary, remarked that Wike’s comments posed no threat to the PDP, which he said had withstood over 25 years of more severe challenges.
“Those were his entitled personal opinions at most. They don’t constitute threats to the PDP, which has survived even worse machinations 25 years down the road. No single individual has the capacity to terminate the life of this party, PDP,” Abdullahi stated.
Also, the Osun State chapter of the PDP on Sunday urged Wike to face his duty as a minister and stop “threatening” those in support of Fubara.
Ladele Olabamiji, the Director of Media and Publicity, Osun PDP, said Wike’s statement was reckless and irresponsible.
He said, “Wike’s statement is rather a reckless and irresponsible one, to say the least. Governor Fubara is not an outcast. He is a PDP governor. On that premise, it is out of place for Wike to threaten PDP governors for supporting one of their own.
“At the PDP Governors Forum, they can offer help to one of them that needs it. Attacking them for doing that is out of place. We urge PDP governors to protect one of their own. Wike is not the President of Nigeria. He has a job in Abuja. He should face it and stop handing down the threat.
“He can do it sometimes and get away with it. But in our case here, he can’t get away with such a reckless statement,” Olabamiji said.
In the same vein, the Rivers State Commissioner for Environment, Sydney Gbara, called on security agencies to invite Wike for questioning following his comments.
Gbara, a former publicity secretary of the PDP in Rivers State, mentioned that such statements were not expected from an elder statesman like the former governor, pointing out that threatening 13 governors was tantamount to causing a crisis in the country.
“Well, I feel that as an elder statesman, nobody will expect that he will make such utterances,” Gbara said.
“So, threatening that you are going to cause crisis in 13 states out of the 36 states in Nigeria means planning to cause crisis in the entire country. That is what it means, security-wise,” Gbara said.
The commissioner claimed that the FCT minister was only spreading false optimism to his supporters, particularly the defected MPs of the state House of Assembly who had lost their seats.
“In my own view, I only see it as a message of hope to his already disgruntled supporters, who he has for over the time made several promises to on what will become their fate in the state, which has never worked out.
“We recall that he promised the former local government chairmen that their tenures would be elongated by six months; today they are no longer in office. The assembly people who he advised to cross the carpet to the APC have lost their seats.
“So, it is just a message of hope so that it won’t look as if they’ve lost out completely. But it will be good if the security agencies prove that they mean well for the country to step into such utterances and investigate anybody, somebody that has made such kind of utterances because it’s a direct affront to the security of Nigeria.
“When you threaten state governors and you promise them that they will never sleep in their states, you promise them that they will never do governance again. All they will face is a crisis; it’s a serious issue.”
The commissioner stated that as supporters of Fubara, they will continue to salute his courage.
“We respect his (Fubara’s) demeanour, and we are proud of him that he’s been able to maintain his cool and calm nature. He has been able to display a high level of maturity and a rare virtue of leadership by not being allowed to be cajoled into plunging the state into an unnecessary crisis.”
Speaking on the claim by Wike that he was in control of the PDP structure in the state, Gbara added, “In Rivers State, when they say being in charge, Governor Fubara is completely in charge; he’s not struggling with any structure with anybody. He has the majority of the supporters.
“For us, we don’t see it as an issue. Rivers people have moved with Governor Fubara, and that is where we are. In the end, we know that he will carry the day. The structure of PDP will be given to the right person, like it has always been in the state. This time around it will not be different, so we are not bothered at all.”
The Bayelsa State Governor, Douye Diri, is hopeful that the crisis rocking the party will be resolved soon.
Diri gave the assurance on Saturday during the PDP state congress in Yenagoa, the state capital.
“The drama at the national level of our party, we are working to resolve it. This party will not go down. No democracy without opposition. The PDP is the main opposition party, and it will continue to play its role until it captures power again.”
