Another episode of war is about to break out again in the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) as some leaders of the opposition party loyal to former vice president Atiku Abubakar are allegedly pushing for the immediate expulsion of former Rivers State Governor Nyesom Wike and any of his loyalists that accepts to serve in the yet to be announced cabinet of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
Everything is pointing to the fact that interest groups within the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) are once again set to engage each other in another round of face-offs over alleged plans by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to name some chieftains of the troubled party in his ministerial list as well as consider others for some other roles in his administration.
Truth Live News gathered from multiple sources that opposing forces within the party are preparing to slug it out over the plot to push for the expulsion of PDP chieftains that agree to serve in the Tinubu administration. It was also gathered that supporters of Atiku Abubakar, the party’s 2023 presidential candidate and those backing former Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers State are set to engage each other in an open war to control the party.
The crisis in the PDP has its root in the outcome of the party’s presidential primary election, where Wike lost to the former vice-president, Atiku and Atiku’s decision to pick the then Delta State governor, Ifeanyi Okowa, as his running mate against the recommendation of a committee chaired by Samuel Ortom, which reportedly recommended Wike as the PDP vice presidential candidate. Wike failed to support Atiku during the general elections and worked for Tinubu, who won the election.
The crisis consumed the National Chairman, Dr Iyorchia Ayu, as a Benue High Court ordered him to stop parading himself as national chairman of the PDP pending the determination of the suit before it. The National Working Committee (NWC) of the PDP, acting on the order, confirmed its Deputy National Chairman (North), Amb. Umar Illiya Damagum, as acting national chairman after Ayu, stepped aside in deference to the court order.
Signs that fresh troubles were about to rock the party emerged when Phrank Shaibu, the Special Assistant on Public Communication to Atiku, while responding to agitation by former Ekiti State Governor Ayodele Fayose, for the inclusion of Wike in the list of Tinubu’s Ministerial nominees, said the G-5 governors were only seeking relevance, appointments, and protection from prosecution.
Atiku’s spokesman added that their decision not to support Atiku had nothing to do with patriotism and Nigerians should not be deceived. His statement came amidst claims that the pro-Atiku camp in the PDP is still bent on ensuring the exit of Wike and his supporters from the party at all costs. “Tinubu’s ministerial list is one thing they are waiting for to further nail Wike and other PDP chieftains on his side,” a source said on Thursday.
It was also gathered that PDP’s acting national chairman, Damagum, is under pressure to constitute a committee investigating allegations of anti-party activities against Wike and some other PDP leaders. “The plan is to get the investigation panel to indict the affected people at all costs so as to pave the way for their expulsion from the party. But the acting National Chairman has been slow in setting up the committee,” a party leader told reporters.
Fayose has urged President Tinubu to appoint a former governor of Rivers State, Nyesom Wike, into his cabinet, saying, “Wike is an asset to Nigeria; Asiwaju [Tinubu] needs a man like Wike.” Fayose insisted that nothing is wrong with the former Rivers governor making the President’s ministerial list, adding that Wike is a courageous man who is not afraid to speak the truth.
The former Ekiti governor, who confessed during the interview that he actually worked against the candidature of Atiku in the 2023 presidential election, recalled that he was one of the first PDP members to call for a southern president. “I never worked for PDP during the last election. I cannot work for two people at the same time. The reality is that I worked for Asiwaju (Tinubu). He is a respectable person from the South-West. It is the time of the South.”
Fayose, however, said he will not accept a ministerial position in the current administration even if he is offered. According to the PDP chieftain, it is time for the old to give the younger generation space in government. He advised that Tinubu’s cabinet should be 40 per cent for the old, 30 per cent for women, and 30 per cent for youths.