Nyesom Wike, the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, has stated that his party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), will not stand a chance of winning the presidential election against President Bola Ahmed Tinubu in 2027, if it does not change its zoning system.
The Minister made the statement during a live media parley on Monday, where he cited the non-adherence of the Party to its constitutional provisions, regarding the zoning of the Chairmanship and Presidential candidacy of the party.
This comes as former Senate President and Chairman of the PDP Board of Trustees, Adolphus Wabara, inducted former Governors Samuel Ortom of Benue State, Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi of Enugu State, and 38 others into the party’s Board of Trustees.
During the inauguration on Monday in Abuja, Wabara called on the new members to help steer the PDP towards renewed success and significance, asserting that the party remained very much alive.
However, Wike said some members manipulated the provisions of the party for selfish interests during the 2023 general elections, which saw the emergence of former Vice President Atiku Abubakar as the presidential candidate of the party, and chairman, Iyorchia Ayu, who were both from the northern zone, noting that if the PDP tried the same in 2027, it would backfire.
“If PDP does not take care, and I say it again, watch out for what will happen. You know, selfish interest can kill an organisation. You have not won an election; you are excluding people. Let us tell ourselves the simple truth; in 2023, we told the party, it is in our constitution, it is in our tradition, when these people take the chairman, these people will take the Presidential Candidate. Because of selfish interests, they manipulated the system.
“They said no, we should not do zoning now. Before we knew, some people had gone to buy forms. Now, a zone took the chairman of the party, a zone took the presidential candidate. Of course, arrogance came in, ‘Forget it; we have won the election.’ See where we are. And I’ve told them, where are you zoning your presidential candidate now? Where will it go? Why not, as a party, come out openly now and say our presidential candidate will also come from the south? You don’t want to do that. You want to play the same game you played in 2023. It will backfire. The point here is that selfishness can kill a system,” he said.
Since the 2023 elections, the PDP has been plagued by internal strife. Conflicts deepened after a clash between Governor Sim Fubara and former Governor Nyesom Wike in Rivers State, along with leadership disputes in the South-South zone and the unresolved vacancy of the National Secretary since December 2024.
Despite interventions from the party’s top organs, including the National Working Committee, Board of Trustees, NEC, and the Governors Forum efforts to heal the rift have only intensified internal divisions, further splintering state and zonal chapters.
Amid the growing unrest, dissatisfaction has led some members to defect to the All Progressives Congress. The most notable shift came on April 23, when Delta State Governor Sheriff Oborevwori, ex-Governor Ifeanyi Okowa, and other key officials switched parties, dealing a major blow to the PDP’s image and weakening its outlook for the 2027 elections.
Addressing recent defections from the party, particularly by the Governor of Delta State, Sherriff Oborevwori, and other stakeholders of the party to the ruling All Progressives Congress, Wike defended the governor’s move, noting that his declaration of support for President Tinubu was not a crime.
“When people talk about the governor of Delta State and his predecessor, and their team moving out of PDP to APC, what wrong did he do? That he said he was going to support Tinubu, the President, is a crime? But the Chairman of the Board of Trustees, the conscience of the party, adopted Alex Otti for a second tenure. Why are people not commenting about that? The Chairman of the BoT of the PDP adopted Alex Otti, the governor under the Labour Party, for a second tenure. Now, this man said look, I am not going to do this type of pretence. I will not be here and say I am supporting this person; it is better that I move and go and support him. Smart politician. I am surprised that PDP said they didn’t see it coming,” Wike said.
The former Rivers State Governor also faulted what he described as impunity within the party, adding that the PDP, as an opposition party, was yet to organise itself to take over the helm of affairs.
“In anything you are doing, if you do not have the right leadership, this is what you will suffer. For Christ’s sake, no opposition party worth its salt will act with impunity. It is only a ruling party, normally, because they are in power that acts with impunity. Opposition does not do that, because opposition is going to organise itself to say I can take over the helm of affairs of government. How many times have they made efforts? How many people have you wooed? Rather, you are after one man; every day, you are after Wike. You abandoned what you are supposed to do,” the Minister said.
