Sentry
The fear of Governor Nyesom Wike appears to be the beginning of wisdom in the Peoples Democratic Party(PDP). He has three things going for him. His associate Uche Secondus is the national chairman of the party. For this reason, he is believed to be in control of the party. His state, Rivers, is rich. For this, he is believed to have a huge war chest. The man is fearless, he speaks his mind and ever ready to take on anybody in the party or the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).
In 2018 when some chieftains of the PDP were scheming to move the congress of the party from Port Harcourt to elsewhere, Wike dared the party to try it and see what would happen. The chieftains heeded the warning. Ex-Vice President Atiku Abubakar had to pay a nocturnal visit to Rivers State with some national executives of the party before he could secure the buy-in of Wike for the 2019 failed presidential bid.
Before the Edo State election in September this year, he berated some unnamed national executives of party for working against the interest of the party by excluding those who mattered in the Edo State chapter of the PDP. The powerful chieftains of the party rushed to Port Harcourt to plead for forgivenes. As things stand today, Wike has positioned himself in such a manner that he will likely determine who gets what in 2023.
Aware of his influence, some of the permanent and new presidential/governorship aspirants of the party are weighing options on how to free the party from his control. It seems a herculean task. In the event that they cannot, some have resolved to look for alternative platforms.
A presidential aspirant said: “The governor and his associates are in control. You are either with them or you are an outsider. They are getting result and are therefore emboldened, but we won’t allow anyone to dictate the pace in PDP.”
A titanic battle for control of the party may ensue sooner than later.
