“Tinubu is a man who means well for the country ” – Wike says as he dares PDP to suspend him
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Former Rivers State Governor and Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, Abuja, Mr Nyesom Wike, has said that he is yet to see anyone that would suspend him from the People’s Democratic Party, PDP.
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Wike while speaking in an interview on Channels Television yesterday, said no party chieftain had the ability to suspend him from the party, adding that governance is not about membership of a political party.
The FCT Minister was responding to queries about the appropriateness of his acceptance of a ministerial appointment in an APC-led government while he is still a member of the PDP.
Wike served as a two term governor of Rivers State under the auspices of the People’s Democratic Party and during the general elections in 2023, contested for office of the president during the party’s primaries but lost to Alhaji Atiku Abubakar who eventually emerged as flagbearer of the party for the nation’s highest political office.
Wike had allegedly worked for the presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress, APC, Bola Ahmed Tinubu during the 2023 presidential elections in the country.
According to him, serving in the APC-led government was a call to serve the nation by assisting President Tinubu in the administration of the nation’s capital city.
The former Rivers State Governor said he became the FCT Minister to support President Bola Tinubu’s administration and not as a member of a political party.
His words: “Governance is not about party. Party is a vehicle that conveys you. I’m a PDP member — unrepentant.
“I never hid my intention. As a PDP member, I came out to support fairness, equity, and justice.
“I feel at home working for the government of President Tinubu. He is a man, who means well for the country.
“I’m not here to work for a party. I’m here to support the president, who has confidence in me. I owe nobody an apology.”
Wike while speaking, asked if there was anyone in the party, who could suspend him.
It would be recalled that some media organizations had purpoted that althrough the last eight years, under the leadership of an APC government led by former President Muhammad Buhari, Wike had been the pillar of the PDP as many alleged that at some point, he single-handedly funded the party using significant resources from his state before the last general elections.
He said, “How can anybody talk about expelling me? With all due respect, I have not seen that person. Nobody will do it. So, the issue that they will do it does not arise.
He further stated that if there was anyone to call people out for disciplinary actions, he should be the one calling the shots.
“Who will discipline me? I should be the one calling for the discipline of people, who violated the party’s constitution on rotation of offices, he said.”
Amidst crisis in the PDP post-primaries, Wike had formed an alliance with some other PDP Governors to kick against the election of Atiku as the party’s presidential flagbearer and the retention of Senator Iorchia Ayu as the party’s national chairman.
The Wike-led group of five known as the G-5 Governors included the Governor of Oyo State, Seyi Makinde, former governor of Rivers State, Nyesom Wike, Samuel Ortom of Benue; Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi of Enugu; and Okezie Ikpeazu of Abia.
The integrity group had refused to back the candidacy of Atiku as presidential candidate if Ayu remained the party’s national chairman.
Despite several attempts to dissuade the aggrieved governors, Samuel Ortom of Benue eventually declared his support for the Labour Party’s presidential candidate, Peter Obi while Nyesom Wike allegedly worked underground for Bola Tinubu of the APC.
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