The Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, has threatened to cause a crisis in any state whose governor interferes with the politics in Rivers State.
His reaction follows the decision of governors elected on the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) platform to approach the party’s national leadership to hand over the party’s structure in Rivers State to Governor Siminalayi Fubara,
In a communique issued following a recent meeting in Jalingo, Taraba State’s capital, the PDP governors reiterated their support for Fubara in the state’s political crisis, promising to “engage the National Working Committee (NWC) of our great party to revisit the congress to correct the anomaly and allow His Excellency Governor Siminalayi Fubara to take his rightful leadership position of the party in the state.”
The message was signed by Bala Mohammed, the Chairman of the PDP Governors’ Forum and Governor of Bauchi State.
On Saturday, while addressing delegates from his faction of the PDP gathered to elect new executives at the party’s secretariat in Port Harcourt, the state capital, Wike boasted that no one would take away the structure he established, insisting that he is the party’s leader in the state. The FCT minister warned PDP governors who indicated they would “take their structure and give it to somebody” to prepare for political issues in their own states.
Addressing the delegates who are loyal to him, Wike insisted that he is the leader of the party in the state, adding that nobody can destroy his structure.
He said: “And let me tell people – I heard some governors who said they will take away my structure and give it 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, then whatever you see, you take.
“I don’t understand simply because l hear they got some money from a signature bonus; and so, their heads are getting big, that you put a hand in my own state. Prepare, prepare, because I have the capacity to also do the same thing in your own state.
“Whether you are from Bauchi, I don’t give a damn. Whichever state you come from, as far as I know, that you are trying to put yourself in Rivers State, your hand will get burnt. And you will never sleep in your own state.
“You will not be governor again. You will see a political crisis as far as PDP is concerned.
“So, I have told them now that you have started, when I will start, don’t say I’m the one that destroyed PDP. You are the one that is trying to destroy the PDP,” Wike added.
The FCT minister urged PDP supporters to be brave and not let anyone scare them, promising that they would replicate the success of the 2023 general elections in the 2027 elections.
He said: “I assured you; we have done our own part by electing a government in the state. If the governor says he does not want us, will you kill yourself? Will you run away from the party you built?
“We are the party members and we have taken over our party. The way we did it, how we did it in 2023, the same God will allow us, will support us, and will be with us in 2027.
“Let nobody be intimidated. I know how it is when you have worked hard and at the end of the day you are pushed away. I know how bad you feel. But, again, it is not every business you enter into that you get profit.
“So, see this one as one of those businesses you invested in and you lost. But that will not make you not work hard. You have to invest in your future and make a profit. So, be strong.
“They said that we are finished; they are finished. Anywhere they are they say we are finished. Let me assure all of you, not while we live will anybody take away the structure from us. Not while we live!” Wike vowed.
Wike warned against external intervention in Rivers State’s political issues, revealing that “these unstable characters” desire to defect to the APP. He confronted those working against him, stating that no amount of abuse would deter him, and that if he wanted to switch political parties, it would be a tsunami.
He said: “Allow Rivers State to conduct the affairs of the party. We are aware of these unstable characters. We know that they are joining the APP. Let them wait until the time they should face us in the election.
“Don’t bother about their abuses. We have thick skin. We don’t even know what abuse is. So, don’t say anybody is abusing me. If I am nothing, they will not abuse me.
“They thought that we would come begging. Are we begging? We are not begging. Let them go and see what is happening in Abuja. So, they know that if they are talking about politics in Nigeria, we are more than them. If today I said I would move to a party, it would be a tsunami. But we have said we will remain where we are,” he added.
Governor Fubara and his followers boycotted the congresses, which were monitored by select national authorities. A Port Harcourt High Court ruled that the PDP’s congress could not be held in the state.
The court issued the order in an action filed by Hon David Chinedu Omereji, Prince Solomon Eke, Isodoye Tobin, and others under the number PHC/2282/CS/2024.
Wike’s comments were significant signs that the reconciliation efforts launched by the PDP’s Chairman of the Board of Trustees, Senator Adolphus Wabara, and other party officials had failed. Wabara took the party’s leaders to Rivers State just a week ago, where he promised Fubara that contending concerns would be constitutionally handled in order to reposition the party for the 2027 election.
Wagbara has said, “We, the Board of this party came here in search of peace and unity of the Peoples Democratic Party.”
