Wike: ‘Damagum’s Silence Worrisome, Atiku Will Struggle If FCT Minister Remains In PDP’
The continuous silence of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) acting National Chairman, Umar Damagum, over claims by the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, that he notified him in writing when President Bola Tinubu nominated him for a ministerial position, has been described as worrisome.
The PDP and its 2023 presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, are currently challenging the declaration of Bola Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress (APC) as the winner of the February 25 presidential election.
Despite the position of the party on the 2023 presidential election, Wike, a former Rivers State governor and a PDP chieftain, accepted to work with the ruling APC.
With calls mounting for his suspension or total expulsion, the immediate-past Rivers State Governor has on multiple occasions dared anyone to sanction him for working for Tinubu.
During a recent appearance on Channels Television’s Politics Today, the Minister said he had yet to see the person who would expel him from the party.
He said, “Governance is not about party. The 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 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.”
Asked if he wasn’t concerned about possible suspension, Wike responded, saying, “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.”
“Who will discipline me? I should be the one calling for the discipline of people who violated the party’s constitution on rotation,” he added.
However, party chieftains have insisted that Wike’s continued membership of the PDP posed a massive threat to whatever Atiku Abubakar might have in mind politically for the future on the platform of the PDP.
The chieftain and former governor told the press, “It is still like a dream that Wike’s claim that he wrote to the acting National Chairman has not been addressed by the man at the centre of all this.
“Why is Damagum silent? If Wike wrote to him, did he present the letter before the NWC members? Were they also aware? Perhaps he needs more time to think and make up his mind on what to do.
“Some of us have intervened privately, but our advice has so far been ignored. This is not the PDP we used to know. I am not aware that any man or woman ever boasted on live television that he or she is bigger than the PDP.
“First, it is a shame that a man who claims to be a PDP member will be nominated to serve a government whose legitimacy we are challenging in court. It is even more shameful that the NEC and NWC are carrying on as if nothing has happened.”
Also, a member of the National Working Committee said unless Wike was expelled from the PDP, Atiku would struggle in vain to mount a serious opposition.
“There is a reason Wike is boasting the way he is doing. A lot of people are saying what they don’t know. Some have claimed that the leadership of the party cannot challenge him because he (Wike) gave them a lot of money. The truth is that Wike was not the only governor who spent money to keep the PDP as a formidable opposition party.
“Atiku cannot be in firm control of party affairs if Wike’s men populate the NWC. This is the dilemma we are in,” he added.
