calls the minister of the FCT “nobody”
Pedro Obaseki, a leader in the Peoples Democratic Party, has accused Nyesom Wike, minister of the Federal Capital Territory, of planning to undermine the party’s internal workings in order to make it simpler for him to run for president in 2027 on the party’s platform.
Obaseki, who served as the PDP 2023 Presidential Campaign Council’s director of planning and strategy, called Wike a “nobody” who rose to power using the party’s institutions and the goodwill of some of its chieftains only to betray them once in position.
He said this on Monday in an interview with a few journalists in Abuja, in response to the FCT minister’s proposal to expel Atiku from the PDP.
“Look at the regions where the PDP did not win because of highhandedness, avarice, or impunity,” Wike reportedly said on Thursday while appearing as a guest on the Channels Television program Politics Today.
“You might have discussed that if the PDP had carried out their obligation. In order to restore the party, I am requesting that the National Working Committee remove Atiku Abubakar, the presidential candidate, and others like Aminu Tambuwal.
However, in response to Wike’s appearance on television, Obaseki stated, “It is not hidden that Wike’s only concern is winning the presidency of our nation, and anything that appears to be standing in the way of him accomplishing that goal will be flushed away, and that is what he has been doing.
“What we are seeing right now is that he is battling to destroy the PDP so that he can destroy the All Progressives Congress in order to build a platform for himself to run in 2027, but we are not stupid,” said one observer.
“It’s crucial that we warn Wike. The continual brigandage of a man who ought to be thankful to God has a limit. People who had their palm kernels broken for them by kind spirits should remember to be modest, Chinua Achebe cautioned us in his novel Things Fall Apart. Wike, though, has continued to push his luck too far.
“Wike who? He is unimportant. He rose to national prominence by riding the coattails of the Rivers State electorate while betraying everyone he encountered. Governor of Rivers State was once a Local Government Chairman; he is currently Minister of the FCT.
He pointed out that the former governor of Rivers State had long been involved in promoting personal causes, noting that he had worked to have his buddy and political ally, Uche Secondus, removed from his position as PDP chairman because he saw Secondus as a barrier to his bid for the presidency in 2023.
“Wike constructed a graph starting from the time he supported Prince Uche Secondus to arrest the PDP structures,” Obaseki stated. He subsequently forced Secondus’ removal because he was aware that, as party chairman, he would no longer be competing for president, as well as in his own local government and senatorial district.
“However, he unsuccessfully sought for the same president. He made a promise to back the victor and broke it at every turn.
The PDP and anyone who wish to bolster Nigeria’s democracy must now recognize Wike for who he really is. He has the guts to appear in the open to claim that he is the only financier of the PDP, a group that was established in 1998.
“This is a party where he became governor in a state where (Peter) Odili was already a governor for eight years on the platform of the party; where Rotimi Amaechi had been governor for seven years prior to defecting to the APC.”
Obaseki described what he called a litany of sins committed by the former governor of Rivers State, Nyesom Wike, which drove other PDP officials to leave the PDP and note that Wike should be suspended from the party.
“Wike needs to explain why the party should expel Atiku. The one who is advocating the expulsion of other party members is the one who ought to be suspended from the organization. Wike is the one who founded the G-5, a cult that exists only within the party.
He ran an anti-party campaign in defiance of the party’s will, bylaws, and organizational structures. Wike is the person who has done anything anti-party.
Every known member of the party has been the target of his battles. If you recall, the previous governor of Zamfara State, Bello Matawalle, named him as the reason he left the party. David Umahi gave him credit for his decision to leave the gathering.
In explaining why he left the party, Prof. Ben Ayade mentioned him. He has evolved into the cliched tortoise that appears in all poor stories.
