Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Minister Nyesom Wike has blamed Oyo State Governor Seyi Makinde for deepening the crisis within the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), accusing him of reneging on key agreements made to stabilise the party.
In a statement personally signed by him on Sunday, May 25, and titled “PDP Crisis: My Position”, Wike said he had confronted Makinde during a G5 meeting in Lagos, telling him he was “the architect of our problems”.
“Non-adherence to agreements reached was the bane of the party, and that he was the chief culprit of this anomaly,” Wike stated.
Wike explained that efforts had been made to restore peace in the PDP after the 2023 general elections, which left the party in disarray due to “dishonesty and lack of trust” among its leaders.
“To stem this ugly trend, efforts have been made to arrest this pernicious virus of dishonesty and treachery and enthrone fidelity to agreements with a view to stabilizing the party and moving it forward,” he said.
According to Wike, an expanded meeting was later held in Abuja involving Makinde, Governor Bala Mohammed, Governor Umaru Fintiri, former Senate President Bukola Saraki, and himself. There, a number of resolutions were reached.
These included that Senator Samuel Anyanwu remain National Secretary of the PDP in line with the Supreme Court ruling, that all legal cases involving Rivers State be withdrawn by the party’s National Legal Adviser, and that the case for a state of emergency be immediately dropped.
“In that meeting, I made it clear that I had no personal problems with HE. Bala Mohammed, except that he hides under the facade of Chairman of PDP Governors Forum to serially renege on agreements,” Wike said.
He added that although tensions rose during the Abuja talks, all parties eventually agreed on a peace path, even forming a reconciliation committee headed by Saraki.
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However, Wike expressed disappointment that the agreements were soon violated. He accused Makinde of working with Enugu State Governor Peter Mbah to convene a meeting of South-East PDP leaders to push for the adoption of Ude Okoye as National Secretary, threatening to exit the party if their demands weren’t met.
Wike also claimed Makinde influenced some officials at the PDP secretariat to push for the Deputy National Secretary to act as National Secretary, despite the earlier consensus.
“To attempt to give credence to this farce, a letter was written by the Deputy National Secretary, calling for a meeting of the NEC of the party,” he said.
He added that a valid letter confirming the PDP governorship candidate in Anambra State, signed by Senator Anyanwu and the acting National Chairman, was publicly undermined by another letter, issued under Makinde’s instruction.
“This is undeniably distasteful, provocative and annoying, to say the least,” Wike remarked, citing how INEC declined to attend the North-Central zonal congress in Jos after the invitation was improperly signed by the Deputy National Secretary.
Wike, who said he had remained loyal to the PDP since 1998, noted that he had never demanded personal favours from any of the governors, despite helping many of them into office.
“What is more painful is that I contributed substantially to most of these governors winning their elections, yet I have not made any personal demands on any of them and I would never do so,” he said.
Concluding his statement, Wike announced his withdrawal from all previous peace agreements, vowing to fight on.
“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… I have now firmly decided to pull out of all agreements hitherto reached. I have decided to fight on until justice is attained.”