Bala Abdulkadir Mohammed Vanguard (BAM-V), a coalition of youth organisations, has backed the call to sanction the minister of FCT, Nyesom Wike, for his open anti-party activities in the People Democratic Party (PDP), saying it is long overdue.
Reacting to the former Rivers State governor’s threat to political crises in states ruled by PDP following the governors’ call to hand over the party’s structures in Rivers State to Governor Siminalayi Fubara, BAM-V said the PDP leadership should do more than invite the FCT Minister to appear before its disciplinary committee.
The group, in a press statement signed by its director-general, Comrade Mohammed Abubakar Jibo, and made available to newsmen in Abuja on Tuesday, wants the FCT minister suspended or outrightly expelled from the main opposition party.
According to BAM-V, this becomes imperative in view of Wike’s several anti-party activities, including openly working against the PDP in the 2023 presidential election, which the group stated contributed to the loss of Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, the PDP presidential candidate.
While noting that Wike’s tirade against PDP governors was reckless and indecorous, the group asserted that there was nothing wrong with the PDP Governors’ Forum resolution at the governor’s meeting in Jalingo, Taraba State, to stand with their Rivers State counterpart, Governor Siminalayi Fubara and their decision to consult with PDP National Working Committee (NWC) to allow the governor to take over the leadership of the party in his state to warrant Wike’s threat to cause crises in PDP in their states.
“We at the Bala Andulkadir Mohammed (BAM-V), a coalition of youth organisations for democracy, good governance and accountability, noted the threats by the FCT Minister, Barrister Nyesom Wike, to cause political crises in PDP governed states because of the resolution by the PDP Governors’ Forum for the return of the party’s structure to Governor Siminalayi Fubara as the rightful leader of PDP in Rivers States.
“There is no doubt that Wike’s threat is nothing but reckless and indecorous, coming from someone who has benefitted immensely from PDP, the party he openly worked against its interests in the 2023 presidential election when he supported the incumbent President, Bola Ahmed Tinubu of the APC. There is nothing more anti-party activity than this.
“It is given this and other known anti-party activities of the former Rivers governor, that we not only back his invitation to face the PDP Disciplinary Committee but also call on the National Working Committee of the party to urgently sanction Wike by either suspending him or giving him an outright expulsion from PDP before he causes further havoc on the party ahead of the 2027 general election,” the statement reads in part.
It further stated that the FCT Minister’s threat poses a danger not only to the PDP’s unity across the country but also to Nigeria’s peace and stability. The founding fathers of the main opposition party never found the party to be turned into a tool of manipulation by any of its members in the country.
“PDP as a political party is bigger than any individual, no matter how highly placed such a person may be. We strongly believe that the party’s founding fathers had never intended for it to become a tool of manipulation by any member of the PDP. We boldly say that Wike’s excess is too much and cannot be tolerated any further.”
While commending the Governor Bala Mohammed-led PDP Governors’ Forum for its stance on ensuring that the PDP structure be returned to the Rivers State governor, BAM-V stated that those who assiduously worked to make Wike governor between 2015 and 2023 never hijacked the party structure from him but instead allowed him to assume the leadership of the party in the state.
“Governor Bala Mohammed-led PDP administration in Bauchi State has worked hard in the last five years to maintain peace, security and development in the state. The likes of Wike are not wanted in Bauchi State. The state deserves peace for its development to continue unabated,” the group added.
