PDP Crises: Wike Withdraws From Reconciliation Deal, Blames Makinde

The Minister of Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, has declared his withdrawal from all agreements aimed at resolving the lingering crisis in the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and vowed to fight on until justice is attained.

He accused the Oyo State governor, Seyi Makinde, of being the architect of the breach of an agreement to recognise embattled Senator Samuel Anyanwu as PDP national secretary.

In a statement issued on Sunday, personally signed by him, Wike accused Governor Makinde of being the architect of the party’s current woes, alleging that Makinde’s “non-adherence to agreements reached was the bane of the party, and that he was the chief culprit of this anomaly.”

The statement, entitled “PDP Crisis: My Position,” outlined Wike’s grievances, insisting that resolutions reached during reconciliation meetings must be respected.

These include Senator Samuel Anyanwu remaining as PDP national secretary, in line with a Supreme Court judgment, the withdrawal of all legal matters concerning Rivers State by the party’s national legal adviser, the discontinuation of the state of emergency suit, and strict adherence to all agreements by involved parties.

The statement read: “Since after the 2023 General election, the PDP has been wantonly swinging from one part of a slippery precipice to another, owing fundamentally to dishonesty and lack of trust amongst its key stakeholders. To stem this ugly trend, efforts have been made to arrest this pernicious virus of dishonesty and treachery and enthrone fidelity to agreements with a view to stabilizing the party and moving it forward.

“To this end, a meeting of the G5 was held in Lagos. In that meeting, I made it clear to the Governor of Oyo State, Seyi Makinde, that he was the architect of our problems, pointing out to him that non-adherence to agreements reached was the bane of the party, and that he was the chief culprit of this anomaly. At the end of the meeting, we resolved to bury the hatchet and make progress.

“As a follow-up to the aforementioned meeting, there was an expanded meeting in Abuja involving HE Seyi Makinde, HE Umaru Fintri, HE Bala Mohammed, HE Bukola Saraki, and me in Saraki’s guest house. In that meeting, I made it clear that I had no personal problems with HE Bala Mohammed, except that he hides under the facade of Chairman of PDP Governors Forum to serially renege on agreements.

“Tensions rose mightily in the meeting and it took all concerned to calm frayed nerves. At the end of the meeting, we came to some resolutions, including: that Senator Samuel Anyanwu remains the National Secretary of the PDP in tandem with the Supreme Court judgement, all legal matters relating to Rivers State must be withdrawn by the National Legal Adviser, the suit on the state of emergency be withdrawn forthwith, and nobody should deviate from the agreements so reached.”

Wike further stated that in light of the foregoing, they pleaded with him to attend the stakeholders’ meeting at the Bauchi Government Lodge.

“I attended the meeting and clearly reiterated my earlier concerns, and to this end and in order to resolve all other lingering and pending issues, a committee was formed, headed by HE Bukola Saraki.

“It is disheartening to note that even before the Bukola Saraki Reconciliation Committee began its work, the gentleman’s agreement we reached at Saraki’s Guest House was already being crudely violated.

“To my chagrin, Seyi Makinde had connived with Peter Mba of Enugu State to orchestrate the summoning of the meeting of so-called South-East leaders to recommend that if Ude Okoye was not adopted as secretary, they would pull out of the PDP. I have since granted an interview to the effect that that resolution of the South-East leaders cannot hold.

“Again, Seyi Makinde organised some people in the National Secretariat to insist that the Deputy National Secretary should act as National Secretary, in violation of the agreement earlier reached. To attempt to give credence to this farce, a letter was written by the Deputy National Secretary, calling for a meeting of the NEC of the party,” he said.

Wike further stated that the letter confirming the candidacy of the governorship candidate of the party in the forthcoming governorship elections in Anambra State, duly signed by the National Secretary, Senator Anyanwu and the acting National Chairman, was rejected by the party through a rebuttal letter signed by the national publicity secretary, acting on the orders of Seyi Makinde and Peter Mba.

Wike went on: “All these actions are in complete violation of the agreements reached and would not do the party any good whatsoever. On the 24th of May 2025, in Jos, for instance, a well-publicised and properly attended zonal elective congress of the PDP was aborted because the letter inviting INEC to the congress was signed by the Deputy National Secretary of the party.

“INEC refused to attend because the proper signatory recognised by law, that is Senator Samuel Anyanwu, was not a signatory to the invitation notice. This is undeniably distasteful, provocative and annoying, to say the least.

“I have painstakingly put out all these facts so that PDP members and the general public would know the truth. I have been in this party since 1998 and have worked tirelessly for the survival of this party with all my strength and it is on record that none of these persons have done anything close to what I have done to sustain this party.

“What is more painful is that I contributed substantially to most of these governors winning their elections, yet I have not made any personal demands on any of them and I would never do so.

“Most importantly, I had thought that we could keep the trust amongst us, but since it is now obvious that they would continue to play games to the detriment of the party, as is the case in the current debacle in the North-Central zonal elections, I have now firmly decided to pull out of all agreements hitherto reached. I have decided to fight on until justice is attained,” he stated.

PDP NEC

Barring last-minute interventions, the much-anticipated National Executive Committee (NEC) of the main opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) is heading for a major showdown owing to conflicting camps.

Although the agenda of the PDP NEC meeting has not been officially disclosed, feelers are that it would deliberate and take a position on the national secretary tussle and the early convention billed for August.

However, it is unclear yet whether the party will deliberate on disciplinary action against members accused of engaging in anti-party activities.

LEADRSHIP recalls that the Tom Ikimi-led disciplinary committee had commenced sitting over petitions against some top party leaders over alleged acts of anti-party activities.

The party’s stance on the ongoing coalition movement might also be discussed. The NEC meeting has been postponed a record six times since last year.

However, confusion over Tuesday’s meeting emerged as the letter purportedly signed by Anyanwu as national secretary declared the NEC postponed.

However, the outcome of the national caucus and the Board of Trustees (BoT) will be key to the NEC meeting’s success. Interestingly, Wike’s allies, including a former Benue State governor, were recently inducted into the BoT, which is scheduled to meet today. The PDP caucus, which Wike is a member of, is also expected to meet before the NEC meeting.

The party would seek to use the meeting to establish its readiness for the much sought for change of leadership, signaling its willingness to lead the opposition charge against the APC.