The Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Minister, Barrister Nyesom Wike, has defended the decision by the Peoples Democratic Party’s (PDP) National Executive Committee (NEC) to establish a 13-member caretaker committee, arguing it was a constitutionally mandated response to expired tenures and binding court rulings.
Wike made this assertion during his end-of-year media chat in Port Harcourt on Monday, framing the move as a legal necessity rather than a political choice.
A Matter of Expired Tenure and Legal Compulsion
Wike stated that the party’s leadership had reached a point where administrative action was unavoidable.
“NEC had no choice. If the executive has expired, somebody must run the affairs of the party,” he said, emphasizing that the caretaker committee was formed to fill a legitimate vacuum in the party’s leadership.
Criticising “Ex-Parte” Orders and Upholding Due Process
The minister strongly criticised attempts by some within the party to use interim court orders to challenge the NEC’s decision. He questioned the legal basis of such moves, asking, “How can an ex-parte order override two substantive judgments of the Federal High Court?”
This comment points to an ongoing legal tussle where factions within the PDP have sought different court orders to control the party’s national apparatus.
Wike also justified the stance of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), which refused to recognise a national convention held by one faction of the party.
“INEC was not part of that so-called convention, and INEC was right,” he added, supporting the electoral body’s position that the convention did not follow due process as required by law.
Positioning Governance Above Factional Politics
Throughout his media chat, Wike consistently sought to separate his current governance role from the PDP’s internal disputes.
He reiterated that his focus as FCT Minister is on service delivery, urging others to do the same. “We must separate politics from governance. My focus is on delivering the Renewed Hope Agenda of President Bola Tinubu for the people of the FCT,” he stated in a separate segment of the interview.
The Context of a Broader Party Crisis
This defence of the caretaker committee is the latest chapter in Wike’s very public commentary on the PDP’s crisis. Over the past week, he has used the same forum to:
· Blame the party’s leadership for destroying it through “selfish ambition.”
· Deny allegations of a secret pact with President Tinubu.
· Explain that the G5 governors’ split was based on political principle.
· Criticise party actors for treating politics like a “contract business.”
By defending the NEC’s action as constitutionally sound, Wike is attempting to frame one faction’s moves as the legitimate, rule-based path forward for the PDP, while portraying the opposition as reliant on technicalities and flawed processes.
The establishment of the caretaker committee remains a deeply contentious issue within the PDP, with legal battles likely to continue as the party struggles to find a unified path ahead of future elections.
