Former Governor of Rivers State and prominent member in the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Nyesom Wike, has named three governors: Seyi Makinde of Oyo State Bala Mohammed of Bauchi State, and Peter Mbah of Enugu State as the key players behind the party’s deepening internal crisis.
Wike, also gave reasons why he will no longer abide by any previous peace agreements made within the party.
According to Wike, he has been pushed to the wall by what he described as persistent betrayal and political backstabbing by key figures in the PDP.
Wike, the current Minister of the Federal Capital Territory in a statement released over the weekend, said “Since the 2023 general elections, the PDP has been stumbling from one crisis to another. At the heart of this is dishonesty and a complete lack of trust among some of our leaders.
“I’ve done my best to hold things together, but I’ve had enough. I will fight this fight to the end, and I will not rest until justice is done.”
The FCT Minister revealed that in an earlier meeting of the G5 Governors in Lagos, he confronted Governor Makinde directly, accusing him of being the source of many of the PDP’s troubles due to his refusal to honour prior agreements. Although the meeting ended with a pledge to reconcile and move forward, Wike, who claimed that promise was short-lived, added that a follow-up meeting in Abuja—attended by Makinde, Bala Mohammed, Adamawa Governor Umaru Fintiri, and former Senate President Bukola Saraki—produced a list of resolutions.
These included affirming Senator Samuel Anyanwu as the party’s National Secretary in line with a Supreme Court judgment, withdrawal of all legal cases related to Rivers State, and the halting of a suit calling for a state of emergency.
According to Wike, he was persuaded to attend another stakeholders’ meeting at the Bauchi Government Lodge despite his busy schedule, where the group reaffirmed those resolutions and appointed Saraki to head a reconciliation committee.
But before the committee could even begin its work, Wike said, the agreements were already being violated.
“To my shock, Seyi Makinde and Peter Mbah were already working behind the scenes to sabotage everything we agreed on. They engineered a meeting of selected South-East leaders where they threatened to pull out of the PDP unless Ude Okoye was installed as National Secretary,” he alleged.
Wike also accused the two Governors of manipulating party structures at the national level to undermine Senator Anyanwu’s authority, even pushing for the Deputy National Secretary to act in his place—actions he said were both illegal and provocative.
He pointed to the recent failed PDP Zonal Congress in Jos on May 24 as a clear consequence of the internal confusion. The congress, Wike said, was aborted after INEC refused to attend because the letter inviting the commission wasn’t signed by Anyanwu, the legally recognized National Secretary.
“This is frustrating and completely avoidable. What they’re doing is not just unlawful, it’s insulting to all of us who have built this party from scratch,” Wike said.
Reflecting on his long history with the PDP, Wike reminded Nigerians of his loyalty and sacrifices for the party since 1998, noting that many of those now undermining him had benefitted from his support.
“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.”
