In recent years, the FCT Minister, Nyesom Wike, who is regarded as one of the strongest pillars of the Peoples Democratic Party, (PDP), has become one of the few politicians that is generating wide discussions publicly. While Wike has gradually become one of the party’s most influential figures, his critics have repeatedly accused him of contributing significantly to the party’s crisis. His supporters have also insisted that Wike only exposed problems that had long existed within the PDP.

The controversy surrounding Wike’s negative influence in the PDP can be traced to the PDP presidential primary ahead of the 2023 general election, where wike had 237 votes, losing to Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar who got 371 votes. Tensions increased when Atiku chose the then Delta State Governor Ifeanyi Okowa to be his running mate instead of Wike. The aftermath of this decision was one of the biggest internal disputes within the PDP, up to that time.

The disagreement birthed the rise of a group of governors from Rivers, Oyo, Benue, and Abia states. The group led by Wike was called the G5. In a move to protect equity and balance within the party, the G5 also known as the ‘Integrity Governors’ demanded the resignation of the then PDP national chairman, Iyorchia Ayu, arguing that it was unfair for both the PDP presidential candidate and the national chairman, to come from the North. When their demands were not met, the governors refused to fully support Atiku’s presidential campaign.

According to observers, this marked the moment the PDP’s chances in the 2023 election suffered a major setback. The Peoples Democratic party went into the 2023 Presidential election deeply divided and unable to rally its forces across the country.

Critics of Wike also point to his decision to accept an appointment as Minister of the Federal Capital Territory under the under the administration of President Bola Tinubu. Many PDP loyalists questioned his commitment to the opposition party. They argue that serving in a rival government’s cabinet while remaining a PDP member deepened divisions within the party and created uncertainty about where his loyalties truly lie.

However, there could be some oversight if Wike alone continues to be blamed for PDP’s problem. The PDP had experienced several internal crises, long before the events that played out in 2022 and 2023. Since losing power at the federal level in 2015, the party has struggled with leadership battles, factional disagreements, defections, and conflicts over zoning arrangements. Over the years, these challenges have weakened party unity and has created divisions among members. So, Wike did not create all these problems, many of them existed years before his disagreement with the party leadership.

Supporters of Wike, particularly the G5, maintained that Wike was fighting for fairness and internal democracy, noting that his demand for Ayu’s resignation was to balance power within the party. The refusal of the party leadership to address the existing grievances added to the crisis.

We must also consider how Wike has contributed to the PDP. Over the years, he has been one of the party’s most influential campaigners and financiers. He was also one of the poster-boys of good governance in the PDP while he was Governor, for which he was nicknamed ‘Mr. Project’. The facts of his long history of contributions to the PDP make the current conflict particularly significant, as it involves a politician who was once considered one of PDP’s strongest assets.

The question of whether Wike damaged the PDP rests on how the public interprets the events of the last few years. It is no doubt that his actions contributed to divisions within the party and influenced the re-drawing of Nigeria’s political geography, especially during the 2023 elections, yet, it is difficult to ignore the fact that the PDP was already battling long-standing problems.

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This writer believes that the important question that should be asked, instead of asking if Wike damaged the PDP, is why a party that once ruled Nigeria for sixteen unbroken years has been unable to resolve internal disagreements before they escalated into the significant crisis that has crippled it today.

In that light, Wike may be seen as a product of the PDP’s long-documented history of poor crisis management, and inability to manage and rally its critical political resources. These are problems that are older than Wike’s influence on the party.