By Ade Bamgbola
The recent outburst of the Federal Capital Territory Minister, Nyesom Wike, against individuals who chose to exit the now thoroughly weakened Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) stands as an all-time monument to unbridled and shameless hypocrisy.
On October 24, during his usual monthly theatrics dubbed media chat where he comments on everything and anything under the sun, Wike took a swipe at those exiting the PDP for the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) or elsewhere. “Those who condemned my politics are now defecting,” he sneered, painting himself as a saint in a party he has methodically dismantled from within.
Yet, this feigned indignation is not lost on the discerning. It is an afterthought — a desperate bid to reclaim relevance in a PDP he has assiduously worked to cripple and ensure that it remains irreparably fractured, prostrate and unable to mount any credible opposition to the ruling APC and its government where he serves as a minister.
For instance, Wike has the temerity to describe the resignation of Bayelsa State Governor, Senator Douye Diri, from the party he has wrecked as “very embarrassing and disappointing.” Such unprovoked attack can only be the height of hypocrisy.
So, he expected well-thinking individuals to remain in a party that has been incapacitated, and thereby jeopardize their political career and the future of their teeming followers? It was a joke simply taken too far. His indignation is “fake, all fake,” to use his own words.
To the wise, the reasons offered by Governor Diri that his resignation was due to “obvious reasons” and “in the best interest of Bayelsa” are sufficient and self-explanatory.
To be sure, Wike’s crusade against the PDP is not accidental. It is a calculated and intentional demolition job. Since his fallout with the party’s old guard, the former Rivers State governor has positioned himself as the party’s grim-reaper, pulling strings to render it completely incapacitated even well after the 2023 general election and ahead of 2027.
It started as a crusade for equality and fairness in the choice of the region that should produce the presidential candidate in 2023 between the North and the South. He lost to Alhaji Atiku Abubakar. Then came the choice of a vice presidential candidate, and he also lost to Senator Ifeanyi Okowa, his former Delta State colleague.
His reaction was a combination of fury and hell. He established the infamous G5 Group. And trust the APC apparatchik, they seized the opportunity and took maximum advantage of the situation. It was a repeat of yet another infamous splinter group of the party in 2014, the nPDP. The G5 governors — Wike, Seyi Makinde, Samuel Ortom, Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi, and Okezie Ikpeazu — in 2023 openly defied their party and its presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, and instead worked for the opposition. APC’s Bola Tinubu won the election.
That treacherous anti-party activity was sold to Nigerians as a principled stand against “enemies of progress” within the PDP. But in truth, it was the very sabotage that handed victory to the APC on a silver platter.
Wike later boasted that the G5’s machinations “saved Nigeria from deep chaos,” a classic revisionist narrative that conveniently absolves him of betraying the very platform that propelled him to national prominence. The result? A PDP so weakened it hemorrhaged votes in key battlegrounds, thus paving Tinubu’s path to Aso Rock while Wike pocketed a ministerial portfolio as his reward.
Fast-forward to 2025, through proxies and shadowy allies, a barrage of court cases designed to scuttle the PDP’s national convention slated for November 15 and 16 in Ibadan, Oyo State, are in the courts. Last week, a Federal High Court in Abuja poured ice on the planned event with yet another controversial ruling. Wike has already applauded the ruling. It is anti-party at its most insidious — using legal mercenaries to foment discord, ensuring the PDP continues to stagger and stay unstable like a drunk, incapable of challenging the ruling party.
Clearly, Wike’s declarations of allegiance to the APC are as brazen as they are explicit. In Abuja last August, Wike laid bare his priorities: “I will support anybody that supports Tinubu.” A supposed loyal and committed party man pledging commitment and allegiance to the candidate of another party. This was not an idle banter; it was a demonstration of personal fealty to Tinubu over his loyalty to PDP.
He has since doubled down, vowing to lead Tinubu’s 2027 re-election campaign in Rivers and the FCT, promising to “deliver” the oil-rich state lock, stock, and barrel. In June, amid rumors of his own presidential flirtations, Wike quashed them outright, affirming his “loyalty to Tinubu till 2031.”
It is the peak of irony for a man who once thundered that leaving PDP’s “malaria” for APC’s “cancer” was folly. He now dines unabashedly with the “cancer” he once decried, gleefully accepting the FCT ministry — a post he once vowed held no allure — while his own party withers and decays. Oh, how convenient.
Wike’s straddling of Rivers State’s PDP and APC structures epitomizes this duplicity. He controls both factions like a feudal lord, installing allies as candidates in local polls to maintain his stranglehold. Critics like former APC gubernatorial candidate, Tonye Cole, have lambasted him for this “political prank,” urging him to formally join the APC and stop deceiving the PDP faithful. This is not bipartisanship; it is a monopoly on power, where he plays both sides against the middle, frustrating any genuine opposition.
His vendetta against potential PDP saviours further exposes his hypocrisy. When whispers of Goodluck Jonathan’s 2027 comeback surfaced recently, Wike was quick to pounce, scoffing that the former president “hasn’t told me of any ambition.” He vowed to “tell Jonathan my mind” if consulted; a poorly veiled threat to torpedo the bid.
Similarly, on Peter Obi’s potential return to the PDP, Wike’s rhetoric was scorched-earth: “If you want to destroy PDP, bring Obi.” He branded Obi a “political rascal,” warning that reinstating him would be suicidal.
These are not policy critiques; they are killer shots from a man allergic to any PDP figure who might eclipse his shadow.
When it comes to PDP, Wike embodies the fable of the dog in the manger. He would not graze the PDP’s meager yam peelings, yet growls and snarls at the goat that is eyeing them. An implacably disgruntled party man, he toils to erase the party altogether, only preserving his relevance as the enforcer of the opposition party’s desire.
His indignation rings hollow. A man who once regarded the APC as a terminal illness, now ministers in its cabinet, wining and dining so shamelessly with the very “disease” he once decried all for the allure of Abuja perks.
In the end, the Wike saga must be seen as a cautionary tale for Nigeria’s democracy — an unchecked ambition devours institutions. The PDP, once a bulwark for democracy, now gasps under his boot. Unless it exorcises this internal demon, 2027 will dawn with APC and Tinubu re-elected unchallenged, courtesy of the man who feigns outrage while tightening the noose. Hypocrisy has never worn such a bold face.
….Bamgbola, a political scientist and good governance advocate, writes from Port Harcourt, Rivers State
