NEC: Wike informed PDP before accepting ministerial job
NEC: Wike informed PDP before accepting ministerial job
Some members of the Peoples Democratic Party’s National Executive Committee have corroborated the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike’s, assertion that he alerted the party’s leadership before accepting a position in President Bola Tinubu’s cabinet.
The assertion was confirmed by the party’s Deputy National Publicity Secretary, Ibrahim Abdullahi, and a source who spoke on condition of anonymity.
Wike, a former Rivers State governor, stated shortly after taking office as a minister that he sought the consent of major PDP leaders before accepting an offer from an APC-led administration.
Responding to accusations that his decision to work for the APC government was a betrayal of his loyalty to his party, the PDP, Wike stated, “They said they will sanction me that I took an appointment. That’s ridiculous. The President wrote to all the 36 state governors to bring names of people to appoint. Didn’t PDP governors submit names?
“Before this appointment came, I wrote to the (PDP) National Chairman. I wrote to the minority leaders of the House of Representatives and the Senate. I wrote to the zonal chairman of the party and my state chairman.
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“I wrote to my governor and all of them wrote me back and said ‘accept.’ I have my evidence documented. Forget these reggae dancers. I call them reggae dancers because when you have lost your opportunity, you have lost because of arrogance and impunity.”
Meanwhile, PDP NEC members verified that Wike alerted the party of a ministerial offer to serve in Tinubu’s cabinet in a letter addressed to the party’s acting National Chairman, Umar Damagum.
Abdullahi told our correspondent in an interview on Friday that Wike sent a letter to PDP acting chairman before accepting Tinubu’s offer. He noted that Wike in the letter informed Damagum that he was going to “answer President Tinubu’s clarion call” and requested for approval.
He stated, “Before he accepted the appointment of the governing party, Governor Wike decided to accept the offer after informing the party. In other words, he had written to the party stating his position. But the party did not respond to him, whether to confirm its approval for him to accept the appointment or for him not to take the position. What we just did was to keep mum and watch events.
“In the letter he wrote to the party, Wike explained that he was going to answer the clarion call by the President and commander-in-chief of the armed forces. Therefore, the party has not taken a position as to whether or not that will be in its interest.”
When asked why the party kept mum on the issue, the party’s deputy spokesperson said, “Because we were indifferent. The letter was just to inform the party. You can tell from the wording in the letter that his mind was made up. He routed the letter through the PDP Vice Chairman, South-South, Chief Dan
Orbih, to the acting national chairman, explaining that this is the time to shun party affiliation to work for a united and prosperous Nigeria.”
Also, a member of the said, “Wike wrote all those he listed, including Damagum”.
Confiding, the member said, “They cannot deny it; they were all informed. He informed them that Tinubu wanted to form a government of national unity and competence and he gave him a ministerial offer.”
Responding to a question on whether the party gave him approval, the source said, “I’m not aware, but to be honest, can any of these people tell him not to accept the offer?”
