The former Governor of Rivers State and current Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesome Woke has been challenged by some prominent members of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), who asserted that it is not possible for him to dismantle the party.
During the PDP state congress on Saturday, August 31, 2024, Wike spoke at the PDP secretariat in Port Harcourt, the capital of Rivers State, and warned PDP governors to avoid any involvement with the party’s affairs in Rivers, threatening to cause chaos in their states.
He stated, “Let me assure all of you, not while we live will anybody take away the structure of the PDP from us. But let me tell people, I hear some governors who say they will take over the structure and give back 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 – anything you see you take.”
Wike’s remarks follow the PDP Governors’ Forum, which is lead by Chairman Bala Mohammed, calling for a review of the party congress results to reestablish incumbent Governor Siminalayi Fubara’s leadership during their convention in Taraba State on August 23.
Prior to the Taraba meeting, there had been a rift in governance in Rivers State caused by a rivalry between Wike and Governor Fubara, both members of the PDP.
The dispute over party control led to two Speakers loyal to Wike and his successor Fubara splitting the state House of Assembly.
The PDP Deputy National Publicity Secretary Ibrahim Abdullahi said that Wike’s comments did not pose any danger to the PDP, which he said had defended itself against more severe challenges over the past 25 years.
“Those were his entitled personal opinions at most. They don’t constitute threats to the PDP, which has survived even worse machinations 25 years down the road. No single individual has the capacity to terminate the life of this party, PDP,” Abdullahi stated.
On Sunday, the Osun State PDP chapter called on Wike to fulfill his duties as a minister and refrain from ‘threatening’ those who support Fubara.
The Director of Media and Publicity, Osun PDP, Oladele Olabamiji, said Wike’s statement was reckless and irresponsible.
He said, “Wike’s statement is rather a reckless and irresponsible one, to say the least. Governor Fubara is not an outcast. He is a PDP governor. On that premise, it is out of place for Wike to threaten PDP governors for supporting one of their own.
“At the PDP Governors Forum, they can offer help to one of them that needs it. Attacking them for doing that is out of place. We urge PDP governors to protect one of their own. Wike is not the President of Nigeria. He has a job in Abuja. He should face it and stop handing down threats.
“He can do it sometimes and get away with it. But in our case here, he can’t get away with such a reckless statement,” Olabamiji said.
In response to Wike’s comments, Sydney Gbara, the Commissioner for Environment in Rivers State, requested that security agencies invite him for questioning.
Gbara, a former Publicity Secretary of the PDP in Rivers State, said that such statements were not anticipated from an elder statesman such as the former governor, and he noted that threatening 13 governors was equivalent to causing a crisis in the country.
Well I feel that as an elder statesman, nobody will expect that he will make such utterances,” Gbara said.
“So, threatening that you are going to cause crisis in 13 states out of the 36 states in Nigeria means planning to cause crisis in the entire country. That is what it means, security-wise,” Gbara said.
On the claim by Wike that he was in control of the PDP structure in the state, Gbara added, “In Rivers State, when they say being in charge, Governor Fubara is completely in charge, he’s not struggling any structure with anybody. He has the majority of the supporters.
“As for PDP, they already know who the leader is and they all know, we equally know that the congresses that have been held in Rivers State are all under litigation, of which at the appropriate time, the court of competent jurisdiction will take their decisions as to whether this exercises fit the legal term or not.
“For us, we don’t see it as an issue. Rivers people have moved with Governor Fubara and that is where we are. In the end, we know that he will carry the day. The structure of PDP will be given to the right person like it has always been in the state. This time around it will not be different, so we are not bothered at all.”
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