Wike: There’s No Faction in PDP

• Dickson says opposition party risks becoming APC’s clone, moves to rebuild it

Olawale Ajimotokan and Sunday Aborisade in Abuja

Minister of the FCT, Nyesom Wike, has downplayed alleged division within the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), saying disagreements within the party ahead of its National Convention scheduled for March 29-30, did not amount to a split.

Wike, who spoke with journalists yesterday after inspecting some ongoing and completed projects in Abuja, said the party remained united although a few individuals might be nursing grievances.

He conceded that while grievances were integral to politics, they did not imply split within the party’s structure.

The minister also acknowledged that although some aggrieved members had reached out for rapprochement, those initiatives were personal reconciliations rather than formal negotiations.

“We have only one PDP, no faction. I don’t know which camp you are talking about, so it will be wrong for me to say the other camp.

“Naturally, there are some individuals that may not be happy. Yes, some may not be happy and have called to say ‘let bygones be bygones’ but there is no faction. There is only one PDP.

“That there is convention does not mean there will be no reconciliation. Everything has its own time,” he said.

Though he noted that with the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) revised timetable for the 2027 elections, political parties have no time to waste, adding that the planned convention would hold as scheduled.

Dickson: PDP Risks Becoming APC’s Clone

Former Bayelsa State governor and senator representing Bayelsa West, Seriake Dickson, has declared that Nigeria’s major political parties were in crisis, warning that a sweeping political “hurricane” was forcing a realignment ahead of the 2027 general election.

Speaking at the maiden National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) in Abuja, Dickson said the country’s dominant political platforms were collapsing under internal contradictions, urging displaced politicians to find refuge in the new party.

He said, “All political houses are on fire right now. This hurricane that has come is driving most of them out of their houses. Most of their houses are collapsing. We must be ready to accommodate them.”

He extended a direct invitation to members of the PDP and the Labour Party, as well as other opposition elements, to defect to the NDC, which he described as a fresh, people-oriented platform.

Dickson lamented the decline of the PDP, once regarded as Africa’s largest political party, warning that it risked losing its founding identity.

“I call on loyal members of the PDP who do not want to be part of a party that will become a clone of the APC. What will be left of the PDP will no longer be the party we used to know,” he said.

Although he did not dwell extensively on the ruling All Progressives Congress, Dickson criticised what he described as a culture of governance driven by power and money rather than service to citizens.

“To us, power is for the sake of the people. Without service, what is the end of power?” he asked.