…Makinde, Mba betrayed our agreements —Wike
…Agreements not binding on us —PDP

By Dapo Akinrefon, Omeiza Ajayi & Luminous Jannamike

ABUJA — THE crisis rocking the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, has nosedived as Minister for the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, Mr Nyesom Wike, yesterday, pulled out of all previous agreements reached to resolve the impasse in the party.

This is coming a day before the party’s 99th National Executive Committee, NEC, scheduled for May 27, 2025.
Wike, in a statement, also vowed to “fight on until justice is attained.”

Among the issues he raised were that Senator Samuel Anyanwu remained the National Secretary of the PDP, in line with the Supreme Court judgement.

Others, he said, were that all legal matters relating to Rivers State must be withdrawn by the National Legal Adviser, and that the suit on the state of emergency in the state be withdrawn forthwith, while nobody should deviate from the agreements so reached, but must be respected by all the parties involved.

According to him, the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, at the weekend boycotted the North Central zonal congress of the PDP which held in Jos, Plateau State, because the letter of notification/invitation was signed by the Deputy National Secretary, Ude Okoye, instead of the substantive National Secretary, Senator Samuel Anyanwu.

The PDP, he said, had also sent a letter to INEC, signed by Okoye informing it of a NEC meeting this week.

The development came as the Federal Capital Territory Administration, FCTA, on Friday listed the PDP National Secretariat (Wadata Plaza) among the 4,794 properties it will take possession of from today due to non-payment of ground rents from between 10 and 43 years.

How I was betrayed

Citing betrayal by Governors Seyi Makinde (Oyo) and Peter Mbah (Enugu), Wike recalled several agreements reached by PDP stakeholders in the recent past which, he said, had not been honoured.

The former Rivers State governor, who said he had pointed out to Governor Makinde that he was the architect of the party’s present problems, disclosed that he told Oyo governor that “non-adherence to agreements reached was the bane of the party, and that he was the chief culprit of this anomaly.”

The statement, titled ”PDP Crisis: My Position,’”said: “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 among 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 Seyi Makinde, Umaru Fintri, Bala Mohammed, Bukola Saraki, and I in Saraki’s guest house.

“In that meeting, I made it clear that I had no personal problems with 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.

“In the light of the foregoing, they pleaded with me to attend the stakeholders’ meeting at the Bauchi Governor’s Lodge, regardless of my many engagements. 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 Bukola Saraki.

“It is disheartening to note that even before the Bukola Saraki Strategy 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 Mbah 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 organized 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.

“Furthermore, 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 portrayed as rejected by the party through a rebuttal letter signed by the national publicity secretary, acting on the orders of Seyi Makinde and Peter Mbah.

“All these actions are in complete violation of the agreements reached and would not do the party any good whatsoever. On May 24, 2025, in Jos, for instance, a well publicized 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 among 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.”

Wike’s agreements not binding on us — PDP

Reacting to Wike, the PDP, yesterday, distanced itself from agreements made by the FCT Minister, stating that such deals were personal and did not represent the party’s official position.

The party’s National Financial Secretary, Daniel Woyengikuro, in a chat with Vanguard, emphasised that the party was not involved in any agreements Wike made with individuals.

Woyengikuro said: “What agreements are we talking about? Wike had agreements with his friends, not with the party. Those names he mentioned, are they the party? The party was not involved in any agreements he made. We have no knowledge of such agreements.

“The NEC, as the highest decision-making body, aside from the convention, will address any issue. This isn’t a physical fight or a man-to-man confrontation. All this unnecessary drama is uncalled for.”

Also speaking, a member of the PDP Board of Trustees, Jones Onyereri said: “The truth of the matter is, why would anyone renege on an agreement that elders staked their reputations to broker?

”These are high-ranking members of the party; sitting governors, former governors, who reached a consensus. So, why go back on it? It’s not a good look.”

Efforts to reach the PDP National Publicity Secretary, Debo Ologunagba, for the party’s official position proved abortive, as several calls to his phone number were neither answered nor returned as of press time.
I only played mediator role—Saraki

When contacted, former Senate President, Senator Bukola Saraki, said he was only a mediator at the meeting but expressed optimism that the PDP would emerge stronger.

Media Aide to the former Senate President, Alhaji Yusuf Olaniyonu said: “All the areas Wike mentioned the former Senate President were the roles he played as mediator.”