PDP Summons Wike over Alleged Anti-party Activities, to Face Disciplinary Panel

•Says Atiku, Obi, Kwankwaso still in talks 

•Sani, Bauchi speaker condemn FCT minister

Chuks Okocha in Abuja and Segun Awofadeji in Bauchi

The leadership of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has summoned Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, over alleged anti-party activities.

Wike was slated to face the disciplinary committee of the party.

The minister, currently on an official visit to China with President Bola Tinubu, was to appear before the disciplinary panel chaired by former Minister of External Affairs and elder statesman, Chief Tom Ikimi.

Deputy National Publicity Secretary of PDP, Ibrahim Abdullahi, disclosed the moves while speaking as a guest at Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily programme yesterday.

Abdullahi stated that the FCT minister was summoned via a letter to appear before the disciplinary committee, which was put in place by the party’s National Working Committee (NWC).

He said PDP had been inundated with petitions against Wike and other party members bordering on allegations of anti-party activities and sabotage against the party.

Abdullahi stated, “Three weeks ago, we put up two committees in place. That of reconciliation and disciplinary, and Nyesom Wike is one of the persons to face the disciplinary committee, which is headed by elder statesman, Chief Tom Ikimi.

“The disciplinary committee will look into issues of anti-party activities. We’ve been receiving petitions regarding anti-party activities or sabotaging the party throughout the primary, leading to where we are now.

“These petitions against Wike and other party members have been aggregated and sent to the committee.

“Some party members even felt that Wike shouldn’t have gotten to this level still as a member of the PDP and they have been writing to the leadership.”

Abdullahi also said comments made by the former Rivers State governor threatening “putting fire in their states”, in obvious reference to PDP governors, were wrong and unacceptable.

He said, “Wike should be able to manage his words carefully. That was a very disappointing remark. We weren’t expecting him to say that, and to be honest with you, we are not with him on that.”

Nevertheless, the three leading opposition figures in Nigeria continued to discuss the possibility of a merger to, according to them, save Nigerians from hunger and widespread insecurity ahead of the 2027 presidential election.

Abdullahi said the three opposition candidates in the last general election – PDP’s Atiku Abubakar, Labour Party’s Peter Obi, and Rabiu Kwankwaso of New Nigeria People’s Party (NNPP) – would put personal interests aside and form a formidable alliance to defeat the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) come 2027.

The PDP deputy national publicity secretary said had his party’s past leadership managed conflicts well, high-ranking chieftains, like Wike, Kwankwaso and Obi, would still be full-blooded members of PDP and the party would have defeated Tinubu of APC in the last election.

According to Abdullahi, “We’ve lost Kwankwaso, we’ve lost Peter Obi, all of these people, imagine if they were in the party, we would have gone to win the elections.

“This APC said they defeated us with one million plus (votes), just one of these names that I mentioned would have covered that gap for us and we would have been in power today and, certainly, Nigerians would not have been confronted with this despair and despondency in the land.”

Asked if PDP was trying to get Obi, Kwankwaso, Wike and others back into the party, Abdullahi said, “Sure, discussion is ongoing. You will see Peter Obi discussing with Atiku, you will see Peter Obi meeting with (Nasir) El-Rufai.

“Party management is a very difficult thing and we are doing the best in the quagmire that we have found ourselves. Rest assured, there would be light at the end of the tunnel. We have learnt our lessons in a bitter way.”

Asked what would happen if Obi and the others returned to PDP, Abdullahi said, “One of them would concede for the other and then we would have a direction.

“Our concern as a party and to these people that I have mentioned is to ensure that we salvage Nigerians from this despair and despondency between maladies of hunger and frightening insecurity in the land. You could see cluelessness and ineptitude on the part of these people managing this country.”

The PDP chieftain said salvaging Nigerians from the present hardship was more important than the individual ambitions of the trio.

According to him, “Atiku is saying if it is better for him to get Nigeria out of this hopelessness, he would do so. He (Atiku) must not be in the race. Atiku is saying that it is an entitlement to him as a democrat; the constitution provides for him that he could contest at any time.

“What he is trying to say is that (there) is no ceiling stopping him from contesting. That is his fundamental democratic right, but he is not saying that he will force it on the throat of the party or the country.

“I am telling you clearly, Peter Obi is suitably qualified; he can aspire and we will support him if he gets the ticket. Atiku is suitably qualified and if he gets the ticket, we will rally behind him and give him the desired support to salvage Nigerians out of this situation.”

PDP National Publicity Secretary, Debo Ologunagba, also said the PDP governors would respond to Wike in due time. Ologunagba disclosed this at a press briefing in Abuja, where he warned that nobody was above the party.

According to him, the PDP Governors Forum (PDP GF) remaind one of the most potent organs of the party and would respond to the minister’s comments.

He stated that PDP had implicit confidence in the ability of the forum to continue to stabilise the party as well as be the reference point of development in the country.

Meanwhile, former senior special adviser on media and publicity to former Vice President Namadi Sambo, Umar Sani, dismissed the claims of alleged political disruption to cause crisis in PDP-controlled states, attributed to Wike.

Sani, in an interview with ARISE NEWS, dismissed the claims as “empty boasts,” asserting that Wike, as a minister, lacks the authority and means to instigate crisis in other states.

He stated that Wike’s assertions of potential disruption were unfounded, highlighting that only the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the Federal Republic, who possessed the requisite instruments of power, could execute such actions.

Sani said, “There is no way for anybody to say he can cause crisis in any state, unless he is saying, I will use the instrument of the federal government to cause crisis.

“By being merely a minister of the federal capital territory cannot go and cause crisis in other states, because he is not the commander-in-chief, he does not have the instrument of causing crisis and I don’t know what type of crisis he means.

“Whatever crisis he means; I think it’s an empty boast. He cannot do anything and I urge the National Working Committee to toe the path of the governors’ forum to do the right thing in Rivers State because we cannot afford at the time that we are looking for ways and means to clinch the presidency to now be in disarray.”

Similarly, Speaker of the Bauchi State House of Assembly, Hon. Suleiman Abubakar, expressed concern over Wike’s statement.

Abubakar, who is the immediate past chairman of the Conference of Nigerian Speakers’ Forum, in a statement, described Wike’s remarks as “reckless” and “unbecoming” of a leader. He said such rhetoric could endanger not only the unity of PDP but also the stability of the entire nation.

Abubakar called on the PDP leadership and the national security agencies to take immediate action to address “Wike’s excesses”.

Abubakar state, “The PDP was founded on the principles of democracy, mutual respect, and the rule of law. It is not the personal fiefdom of any individual, regardless of their past accomplishments or current position.

“Mr. Wike’s attempt to use his influence as a tool of intimidation against other states within the federation is a gross misuse of power and a direct violation of the values upon which our party stands.

“As the Speaker of the Bauchi State House of Assembly, I cannot remain silent in the face of such threats. Mr. Wike’s audacious warning that Bauchi State could face political turmoil simply because we stand for what is right is unacceptable.

“Moreover, Mr Wike’s continued public outburst do a disservice to the PDP and betray the trust that the people of Rivers State and the broader Nigerian populace have placed on him.”