The Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, has cautioned that the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) could be heading for collapse if it entertains the idea of making former Labour Party presidential candidate, Peter Obi, its standard-bearer in 2027.
Wike, who spoke during a media chat on Monday, accused the PDP of repeating old mistakes that cost it dearly in the 2023 elections.
He argued that the party’s decision to field a presidential candidate and national chairman from the same region in the last poll was both unjust and politically reckless.
“I told my colleagues, PDP, you are shooting yourself. If you allow what is going on to continue, you’ll pay. And what did I say? You cannot have the presidential candidate at the same time as the national chairman of the party,” the former Rivers State governor said.
He maintained that the lack of fairness within the PDP weakened its fortunes at the ballot box, insisting that the presidency should rotate back to the South in the interest of equity and political stability.
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Turning to speculations about Obi’s possible return to the PDP, Wike was blunt in his opposition. He described such a move as hypocritical, recalling that Obi had once derided the PDP as “rotten.”
“To what? Bringing Obi to where? You want to kill the party? Obi that was abusing the party, saying it is rotten—so the party is now good enough for him? Ambition can make people even go to Satan’s house,” Minister Wike said.
He stressed that reabsorbing Obi would not only erode what remains of the PDP’s credibility but also strip the party of any ideological foundation.
“If you want to destroy this party, dare it—bring Obi. There’s no way he will come back just because of ambition. No more ideology, no longer principle,” he concluded.
