By Ben Adoga, Abuja
Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, has stirred a fresh storm within the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), warning that any attempt to hand the party’s 2027 presidential ticket to former Labour Party candidate Peter Obi would amount to political suicide.
Wike, who spoke during his monthly media chat at his Life Camp residence in Abuja, stated that the PDP had not learned from the missteps that led to its loss in the 2023 general elections.
He recalled that the party shot itself in the foot by allowing both the national chairman and presidential candidate to emerge from the North.
“From day one, I told my colleagues, PDP, you are shooting yourself in the foot. You cannot have the presidential candidate and the national chairman from the same zone. You stole both positions and ignored fairness. I said it would purge you, and it really purged them. I have no regret for it,” Wike declared.
Wike responded to reports that some PDP leaders were considering persuading former president, Dr Goodluck Jonathan, to return for 2027.
He dismissed the idea as dangerous, saying Jonathan is “a respected elder statesman whose global stature would be undermined by a return to partisan contests.”
He added that those urging Jonathan back are the same people who betrayed him in 2015.
Jonathan is being “deceived” by those pushing him into the race.
Wike accused them of being the same actors who orchestrated his 2015 defeat.
He urged Jonathan to preserve his international standing as a peace envoy, instead of being dragged into another bruising Nigerian election.
*Obi’s return is a ‘death sentence’
Wike turned his attention to reports that some PDP stakeholders were considering drafting Obi back into the party ahead of the 2027 elections. He dismissed the idea outright, describing it as suicidal.
“Now bring Obi to where? You want to kill the party more. The same Obi who said PDP was rotten, suddenly it’s good enough for him? Ambition can take people even to Satan’s house,” he charged.
He further mocked Obi’s campaign promise of serving only one term if elected President, calling it a ruse.
“Stop deceiving Nigerians. No president can guarantee one term. When you get there, realities change. Only Jonathan voluntarily stepped aside. Even those who once talked of one term later sought a third term,” he said.
Wike insisted that Obi’s supporters were being misled, stressing that the circumstances of 2023 could not be replicated.
“Even if you give him back his six million votes, 2023 will not repeat itself. Things change once you are in office,” he maintained.
On speculation that some PDP leaders were courting former President Goodluck Jonathan to run again, Wike poured cold water on the idea.
He described Jonathan as a respected elder statesman whose global stature would be undermined by a return to partisan contests.
Wike accused those advocating his draft of being the very individuals who betrayed him in 2015, and urged him to remain above partisan politicking and preserve his statesman’s legacy.
*Defending Rivers LG elections
Wike also used the opportunity to defend the conduct of the just-concluded Rivers State local government elections, where the PDP won in Obio/Akpor, Port Harcourt, and Ogba/Egbema/Ndoni LGAs.
At the same time, the All Progressives Congress (APC) secured 20 councils.
He said he was particularly proud that PDP retained the decisive councils.
“Obio/Akpor alone produced over 328,000 votes. Local elections are taken more seriously than general elections; they are like family affairs. That’s why turnout is always higher,” he explained.
Responding to criticisms by former Vice President Atiku Abubakar and Obi, who had branded the polls unlawful, Wike insisted the exercise had not been declared illegal by any court.
“Listen, I don’t blame Atiku; he doesn’t even know that his boss, Obasanjo, signed emergency regulations in 2004 giving the President power to govern emergency areas. If he didn’t know then, he shouldn’t comment now,” he said.
On Obi, Wike was more scathing, “Who can be more of a rascal than Obi? He ruled Anambra for eight years and only conducted local government elections two months before leaving office.
He has no moral right to question an election properly done and backed by law.”
The Minister accused both Atiku and Obi of serial defection without ideological consistency.
“Look at Atiku, PDP, AC, APC, PDP, now ADC. As for Obi, he hops around making promises he can’t keep. Why are they hiding under Rivers’ politics? Their anger is that Rivers is no longer available to fund their ambitions,” Wike alleged.
The FCT Minister maintained that unless the PDP embraced equity, justice, and zoning, it risked becoming politically irrelevant.
“If you want to destroy PDP, dare it, bring Obi. There are still people in the PDP. There must be ideology, there must be principle. Without zoning, without justice, PDP cannot rise again,” he warned.
The former Rivers governor boasted of delivering victory for the PDP in his base despite critics questioning his reach.
“I influenced and campaigned for my people to vote for PDP, and they did. My influence remains where it has always been: in my local government. And that’s the council that determines who wins in Rivers,” he asserted.
He added that the polls were the most peaceful in the state’s history, “For the first time, no gunshots, no box-snatching, no kidnapping of officials.
“Yet instead of commending security agencies, they are crying illegality. The court has not pronounced the election illegal. Their problem is funding. Rivers is no longer their ATM.”
*Bauchi governor’s comment
Wike also took a swipe at Bauchi State Governor Bala Mohammed, who had hinted during a television interview that the PDP might consider Obi and Jonathan as its options for 2027.
According to him, such a move would only deepen the crisis.
“If Governor Bala wants to destroy the party, let him go ahead. But history will not forgive those who toy with PDP’s survival,” he warned.
