POLITICS

TINUBU WILL DEFEAT PDP IN 2027 – WIKE
The Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, has warned that the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has little chance of defeating President Bola Tinubu in the 2027 presidential election unless it revises its current zoning structure.
Wike made this assertion during a live media session on Monday, criticizing the party’s failure to uphold its constitutional guidelines on the zoning of key positions, including the party chairmanship and presidential ticket.
His remarks coincided with the induction of former Senate President and PDP Board of Trustees Chairman, Adolphus Wabara, who welcomed former Governors Samuel Ortom (Benue), Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi (Enugu), and 38 others into the party’s Board of Trustees.
Speaking at the event held Monday in Abuja, Wabara urged the newly inducted members to contribute to revitalizing the PDP, affirming that the party remains active and relevant.
However, Wike accused certain members of manipulating the party's provisions for personal gain during the 2023 general elections, which resulted in the selection of former Vice President Atiku Abubakar as the PDP's presidential candidate and Iyorchia Ayu as chairman, both of whom were from the northern region. He warned that if the PDP repeated this approach in 2027, it would lead to negative consequences.
“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 grappling with internal conflicts, which were exacerbated by a feud between Governor Sim Fubara and former Governor Nyesom Wike in Rivers State, along with ongoing leadership disputes in the South-South zone and the unresolved vacancy of the National Secretary since December 2024.
Despite efforts from the party's top bodies, including the National Working Committee, Board of Trustees, NEC, and the Governors' Forum, attempts to resolve the issues have only deepened divisions, further fracturing state and zonal chapters.
As discontent has grown, some members have defected to the All Progressives Congress. The most significant of these defections occurred on April 23, when Delta State Governor Sheriff Oborevwori, former Governor Ifeanyi Okowa, and other prominent officials switched parties, delivering a substantial blow to the PDP’s reputation and diminishing its prospects for the 2027 elections.
In response to the defections, particularly that of Delta State Governor Sheriff Oborevwori and other party stakeholders to the ruling APC, Wike defended the governor's decision, asserting that his public support for President Tinubu was not a criminal act.
“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 condemned the impunity within the party, asserting that the PDP, as an opposition party, had failed to organize itself adequately to take over leadership.
“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 added.
"This represents a significant development in our ongoing coverage of current events."— Editorial Board