• Denies Makinde’s claim to weaken PDP in favour of Tinubu
• State PDP faults FCT minister’s claim that party collapsed
• PDP describes Wike’s political adventure as anti-democratic

The Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, has declared that no candidate can win an election in Rivers State without the backing of his political camp, insisting that his supporters control the local council and ward structures across the state.
 
Wike also dismissed the notion that Governor Siminalayi Fubara’s defection to the All Progressives Congress (APC) automatically confers party leadership on him in Rivers State, arguing that there are exceptions to political conventions.
 
“Defecting to another party does not make you the leader. When you said you are joining the party, you must have something to offer. Who is the leader of the APC in Lagos State? There are exceptions to rules,” he said.
 

Recall that Fubara had declared he was the leader of the APC after defecting from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). During his registration with the APC in Rivers, he was assigned the number 001 for his membership.

Meanwhile, a legal practitioner and political analyst, Living Jamala, has faulted the FCT minister’s position on the leadership of the APC in Rivers, describing his claims as “laughable” and “preposterous.”
 
According to Jamala, Wike’s position was untenable, given that the FCT minister remains a member of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

 “With due respect to the minister, it is laughable, and to say the least, preposterous, for someone who belongs to another political party to attempt to define leadership within the APC,” he said.
 
The lawyer argued that political parties operate through internal structures and processes, stressing that questions of leadership are the exclusive preserve of party members.

The former Rivers State governor spoke yesterday during his end-of-year media chat in Port Harcourt, where he also reacted to claims by Oyo State Governor, Seyi Makinde, that he promised to weaken the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in favour of President Bola Tinubu ahead of the 2027 general elections.
 
Wike described the allegation as a “blatant lie”, stressing that no such meeting ever held. “That is a blatant lie,” he said. “You see, Makinde has never called me Wike again. That was the last time he did.”
 
Questioning the basis of Makinde’s claim, Wike challenged the Oyo State governor to explain why he allegedly failed to brief the PDP leadership on the supposed agreement.
 
“What was the purpose of that meeting? Why did Makinde not come out to tell the party that this is what Wike said? There was no such meeting,” he stated.
Wike clarified that the only meeting involving Makinde and some PDP governors after the 2023 general election was a courtesy visit to Tinubu, not a political negotiation.
 
“Myself, former Benue State Governor, Samuel Ortom; former Abia State Governor, Okezie Ikpeazu; former Enugu State Governor, Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi, and Seyi Makinde went to see the President after the elections. And, of course, the Chief of Staff was there,” he said.
 
Describing Makinde’s claims as misleading and unfair, Wike said it was wrong to attribute statements to him that he never made, adding that the Oyo State governor was “frustrated.”  The FCT minister also criticised Makinde’s approach to politics, suggesting that he lacked a full grasp of the complexities involved.
 
“We have advised him several times. Politics is not like being a contractor with Shell. It has different rules,” Wike said.
 
While acknowledging that ambition was legitimate, he stressed that political aspirations must conform to established party processes and norms. Wike further suggested that Makinde’s discontent stemmed from the fact that he (Wike) remained in the PDP, despite his working relationship with the Tinubu administration.

MEANWHILE, the Caretaker Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Rivers State, Nname Ewor, has dismissed recent claims by Wike that the PDP no longer exists in the state, insisting that the party remains solidly rooted and politically relevant.
 
Ewor made the clarification during an interview with journalists in Port Harcourt, where he described Wike’s comments as misleading and lacking a factual basis.
 
He alleged that the FCT minister had, during a town hall engagement on Sunday, asserted that both the PDP and the APC had collapsed in Rivers State, a statement that sparked widespread political reactions across the state.
 
Reacting, Ewor acknowledged that the PDP had suffered internal setbacks in recent times but maintained that the party was already healing and repositioning to reclaim its mandate of serving the people.
 
“There is APC, and there is PDP in Rivers State,” Ewor stated. “The APC in Rivers State is led by the Governor, Siminalayi Fubara, while the PDP in Rivers State is led by me. So, for anyone to say there is no PDP here is completely untrue.”

Ewor further questioned the authority of the FCT minister to make such pronouncements, noting that Wike currently does not belong to any recognised political party in the country.

ALSO, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has described the intention of the FCT minister to support APC in the 2027 Presidential election while remaining a member of the PDP as “nothing less than a locus classicus of anti-democratic adventurism.”
 
In a statement by the party’s National Publicity Secretary, Ini Ememobong, the PDP said Wike’s posture raises broader concerns about democratic norms and internal party discipline, arguing that publicly aligning with a rival political platform while retaining membership of another party undermines the foundations of representative democracy.
 
The party said the conduct was consistent with what it described as a longstanding pattern of political provocation by the former Rivers State governor.
According to the PDP, Wike’s attitude is not new, noting that he has, over the years, acted as a constant agent provocateur within the political space, frequently generating internal crises which, the party alleged, served to advance personal political interests rather than collective goals.
 
The statement recalled Wike’s involvement in successive leadership disputes within the PDP, from earlier national chairmanship contests to more recent internal disagreements, describing these episodes as evidence of a recurring approach marked by confrontation and internal destabilisation.