In a fiery pushback against deepening factional claims within the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Barrister Nyesom Wike, has categorically denied ever telling President Bola Tinubu that he would “hold” the opposition party for him.
Wike described the allegation, which he attributed to the Governor of Oyo State, Seyi Makinde, as “a blatant lie” and a product of political frustration.
The denial came during Wike’s end-of-year media chat held in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, on Monday, marking another public escalation in the internal crisis rocking Nigeria’s main opposition party.
A Denial of Political Collusion
Wike was emphatic in refuting the suggestion of a secret pact with the sitting President, who is a member of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).
“That is a blatant lie. There was never a meeting where I said to Mr President, ‘I will hold PDP for you,’” Wike declared.
He clarified the context of his post-election visit to President Tinubu, stating it was informal and unrelated to any scheme to control the PDP.
“We went to see the President after elections to discuss certain issues. It was not a meeting booked for that purpose,” he explained.
Attributing Motive to “Frustration”
The minister suggested that the allegation stemmed from the internal pressures and failures within the PDP, implying that his political opponents are lashing out.
“Frustration can make you do a lot of things that will cause damage,” Wike stated, indirectly commenting on the state of the party he once helped lead as a key governor and campaigner.
This latest denial follows Wike’s strong criticism just days earlier, where he blamed the PDP’s national leadership for “destroying” the party through selfish ambitions and creating a “self-inflicted one-party state.”
A Widening Rift
The public airing of this specific allegation and its forceful denial points to a severe breakdown of trust at the highest levels of the PDP. It highlights the personal and acrimonious nature of the party’s internal strife, which has already led to a loss of structure in states like Ekiti and Osun.
