Nyesom Wike, minister of the federal capital territory (FCT), says he has withdrawn from all the agreements he had reached with stakeholders of the Peoples Democratic Party.
Wike said he thought he could trust certain PDP stakeholders, but they continue to play political games at the detriment of the party’s interests.
Since 2023, the PDP has been enmeshed in crisis at the national level as party leaders tussle over the machinery of the party.
Recently, Samuel Anyanwu and Udeh-Okoye have been laying claim to the position of national secretary amid a series of lawsuits.
PDP governors and south-east zonal caucus have backed Udeh-Okoye for the position. Anyanwu is loyal to Wike.
Amid the internal wrangling, some PDP members have defected to the All Progressives Congress (APC).
A statement on Sunday by Wike accused Seyi Makinde, governor of Oyo, and his Bauchi counterpart, Bala Mohammed, of reneging on agreements reached by PDP stakeholders.
The FCT minister narrated how some agreements were reached during a meeting held at the guest house of former Senate President Bukola Saraki, which was attended by Makinde, Mohammed, Fintiri, governor of Adamawa, and Saraki himself.
“Tensions rose mightily in the meeting and it took all concerned to calm frayed nerves,” Wike said.
“At the end of the meeting, we came to some resolutions, including that Senator Samuel Anyanwu remains the National Secretary of the PDP in tandem with the supreme court judgement; all legal matters relating to Rivers State must be withdrawn by the national legal adviser; the suit on the state of emergency be withdrawn forthwith; and nobody should deviate from the agreements so reached.
“In the light of the foregoing, they pleaded with me to attend the stakeholders’ meeting at the Bauchi government lodge, regardless of my many engagements.
“I attended the meeting and clearly reiterated my earlier concerns, and to this end and in order to resolve all other lingering and pending issues, a committee was formed, headed by HE. Bukola Saraki.
“It is disheartening to note that even before the Bukola Saraki Reconciliation Committee began its work, the gentleman’s agreement we reached at Saraki’s Guest House was already being crudely violated.
“To my chagrin, Seyi Makinde had connived with Peter Mba of Enugu State to orchestrate the summoning of the meeting of so-called South-East leaders to recommend that if Ude Okoye was not adopted as Secretary, they would pull out of the PDP.”
Wike also accused Makinde of organising some persons at the PDP national secretariat to insist that the deputy national secretary acts as the national secretary.
The FCT minister described the Oyo governor as the “architect” of the non-adherence to agreements.
“To this end, a meeting of the G5 was held in Lagos. In that meeting, I made it clear to the Governor of Oyo State, HE. Seyi Makinde, that he was the architect of our problems, pointing out to him that non-adherence to agreements reached was the bane of the party, and that he was the chief culprit of this anomaly. At the end of the meeting, we resolved to bury the hatchet and make progress,” Wike said.
“I have painstakingly put out all these facts so that PDP members and the general public would know the truth.
“I have been in this party since 1998 and have worked tirelessly for the survival of this party with all my strength and it is on record that none of these persons have done anything close to what I have done to sustain this party.
“What is more painful is that I contributed substantially to most of these governors winning their elections, yet I have not made any personal demands on any of them and I would never do so.
“Most importantly, I had thought that we could keep the trust amongst us, but since it is now obvious that they would continue to play games to the detriment of the party, as is the case in the current debacle in the north-central zonal elections.
“I have now firmly decided to pull out of all agreements hitherto reached. I have decided to fight on until justice is attained.”
Wike and Makinde belonged to the same political group dubbed ‘G5 group’ in the build-up to the 2023 elections.
