Nyesom Wike, minister of the federal capital territory (FCT), says former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar had no option but to leave the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
On July 14, Abubakar resigned from the PDP, saying the party has strayed from its founding ideals and is bogged down by “irreconcilable differences”.
Speaking on ‘Politics Today’, a Channels Television programme on Monday, Wike said Abubakar’s exit from the opposition party was inevitable because he could not use the PDP for his personal ambition.
“Atiku has no choice but to leave because he wanted to use the PDP, but knowing that I’m there, he cannot get that platform,” the FCT minister said.
He also accused the former vice-president and other defectors of weakening the party.
“Those are people who destroyed the party,” he said, adding, “How many times has he left PDP and returned?”
Wike also took aim at Douye Diri, governor of Bayelsa, who formally defected to the All Progressives Congress (APC) on Monday.
“Diri has said he has left PDP, and I’m one of the happiest persons today,” he said.
“The same him and Makinde said they would not allow anybody to destroy the PDP and fall to the gutter. Who has entered the gutter today?”
Wike accused Diri of hypocrisy, saying he once branded others “undertakers” trying to bury the PDP but has now joined the APC.
“If I heard what he said, he claimed that some people came into the party as undertakers,” Wike said.
“I didn’t just come into the party; I have been a bona fide member since 1998.”
The minister recounted his political journey, noting that he began his career as a local government chairman and later served as governor of Rivers for eight years.
“When Diri was in PDP, he was one of those who said I was working for APC to destroy PDP,” Wike said.
