The Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, has vowed to seal any office opened in Abuja by the Tanimu Turaki faction of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
The former Rivers State Governor stated this during a media chat with journalists in Abuja on Wednesday, during which he berated Turaki, Governor Seyi Makinde, and others, accusing them of fraud, defiance of court rulings, and deception of Nigerians.
He said, “When will people stop being fraudulent? You cannot disobey court judgments and then turn around to deceive Nigerians that you have a legitimate structure. That is not how democracy works,” he said.
Wike insisted that the faction opposing the party’s recognized leadership lacks any legal standing to manage the PDP’s affairs and issued a direct challenge to expose what he described as the hollowness of their claims. “You cannot continue to deceive Nigerians. If they’re sure they’re the authentic leadership of the PDP, let them open an official PDP account and tell party members to pay nomination fees into it,” Wike said.
“Let Turaki, as a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, open an account for the PDP. Let them announce it publicly for members who want to contest elections. That day, you’ll see what will happen. He’ll lose his silk,” he stated.
Wike argued that no financial institution would entertain such a request because the rival faction lacks the authentic party documentation and legally recognised leadership structure required to pass banking due diligence.
“That bank will be in trouble because to open such an account, you must provide the party’s authentic documents and recognized leadership. Who has those documents? Who has the certificate of incorporation? It’s the secrecy of the party,” he said.
Speaking on the issue of physical office, the minister threatened to use his authority to ensure the law is not violated “You don’t form a leadership in your bedroom and call it a national structure. Let them open an office anywhere and call it the PDP secretariat — I dare them. That is how you know what is real and what is not.
“If anybody goes ahead to open an illegal office in the name of the PDP in Abuja, I’ll seal it. I won’t allow any breach of peace because my duty is to maintain law and order in the Federal Capital Territory”, he said.
Wike dismissed the rival group’s attempts to constitute what he described as an illegal caretaker arrangement, accusing them of seeking to mislead party members and the wider public even in the face of clear judicial pronouncements.
“The court has made it clear who should run the affairs of the party pending a lawful convention. You cannot ignore that and start setting up another structure. That is fraud, 419. People you expect to uphold the law are the ones trying to bend it. That is the tragedy of our system,” he said.
On the Supreme Court ruling that the rival faction has cited in its favor, Wike insisted the legal processes and available decisions supported his position and that of the recognized party leadership. He accused the other side of deliberately misreading judicial pronouncements to confuse members and the public.
Meanwhile, on Rivers State governorship election, Wike said he hasn’t endorsed anyone, but will after the joint coalition meeting of members of the PDP and the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the state.
“I haven’t endorsed anybody and I cannot endorse somebody until the joint coalition meets. We have loyalists in PDP, we have loyalists in APC. I’ve never hidden the fact that, everywhere you say ‘rainbow coalition’. We’ve put ourselves together and it’s a political strategy because we have somebody we’ll fight.”
The former Rivers State governor also said the coalition in the state is not working with Governor Siminalayi Fubara, who is reportedly eyeing the APC ticket for the 2027 election.
Wike accused the governor of reneging on an agreement reached with members of the Rivers State House of Assembly before President Bola Tinubu. “We’re not working with Fubara. So, as politicians, we must strategise, I don’t need to come and unveil our strategy to you. The Assembly withdrew the impeachment before the president of a country. Now, having withdrawn the impeachment, you’re now too smart on what you agreed before the president,” he said.
