Reasons Wike Has Refused to Join APC – Dele Momodu

Former presidential aspirant and chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Dele Momodu, has said the crisis in the party was caused by President Bola Tinubu-led All Progressives Congress (APC) government and Nyesom Wike.

Momodu said the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Wike, would have defected to the ruling APC if he would be able to wield power as he has in PDP.

TrackNews Media reports that the PDP chieftain stated this in an interview with Arise News on Thursday. He noted that Wike’s presidential ticket loss to Atiku Abubakar was the beginning of the party’s crisis.

“There are people who lost the primary election in PDP in 2022 who are still sulking and have not recovered from it. The interesting thing is that they have virtually moved to another party, but either they love the PDP or hate the PDP, they are not able to vacate the PDP.

“The crisis started when the then Governor Wike lost to Atiku Abubakar in the primary and the bid for the running mate. And when I say moved, I’m not talking about physically, but maybe spiritually, he is within the APC today.

“However, he has yet to find the courage to physically join APC because he knows he would not be able to wield the kind of power he wielded in PDP. Right now, where his friends are holding sway, he is empowering them and encouraging them to keep PDP under the water,” he said.

Momodu explained that the crisis in the Labour Party (LP) and New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP), like that of the PDP, was a ground scheme of the APC to have a one-party state.

He noted that President Tinubu’s government was scared of opposition and was out to use every instrument of state power against the opposition parties.

The former presidential aspirant added that the leadership crisis in opposition parties was not a result of a lack of direction, but a calculated political scheme of the APC government.

“Nigeria is moving in the direction of a one-party state. The ruling party, APC, is so scared of opposition that right now, crises are being orchestrated from party to party, especially the leading opposition parties like PDP, Labour Party, and NNPP. It’s obvious what is going on.

“If you have a government that is wielding all its state power against the opposition, what will you do? Wike would not be that powerful if he did not have the backing of the ruling government.

“Even Tinubu knows that. The tragedy of it for me is that I have never envisaged a day when Nigeria will come under a civilian administration that will make it very difficult for the opposition to thrive,” he stated.