…Gives condition to forgive Fubara
… Says I wanted Fubara’s removal, Tinubu saved Rivers
Abubakar Yunusa
Nyesom Wike has described talks about a coalition to unseat President Bola Tinubu as not sincere and believes those behind it are doing so for selfish reasons.
Wike, the Minister of the FCT, said this in Abuja on Friday during a media chat, accusing the masterminds of running away from issues bedevilling the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Nigeria’s main opposition party.
He said, “those who are looking for a coalition are for selfish interests, the likes of Atiku and other people, which coalition, with whom?
“Why not come in to repair your party? Everybody wants to become president of the country, nobody wants to say, look, let me build our party so that at the end of the day, our party will be in a formidable position as an opposition party to take over power.
“You don’t do that, the only thing you want to do is let me find a way; how I will be the one, and if that does not happen, then it’s to your tent, oh Israel,” the immediate past governor of Rivers state said.
Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar and a former governor of Kaduna State, Nasir El-Rufai, are among political heavyweights planning to float a coalition to dislodge President Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the 2027 election.
That push has continued to make headlines in the country in the past months, but Wike said those behind it, especially members of the main opposition PDP, should fix their party instead.
Wike criticised Atiku, the arrowhead of the coalition movement, saying the ex-VP is about to make the mistakes that led to the PDP’s defeat in the 2023 presidential election.
“You make the mistake yesterday, you want to repeat the same mistake today, tomorrow you make the same mistake, and then you come out to say you were rigged out, who rigged you out? You’ve already rigged yourself by causing crisis,” Wike said.
The minister, who is a member of the PDP, also said the party is not ready for the next presidential election scheduled for 2027.
“The PDP is not ready for the 2027 election. It is very obvious. For instance, I have an examination and I am going to class to read. Indeed, am I reading? Am I studying? You don’t need to deceive anybody that you are reading. You are only trying to read so that people will see that you have carried your bag to class,” he said.
“That is the situation of the PDP. So, they cannot say for sure that they are ready for 2027. Power struggle cannot help the party.”
