Nyesom Wike, the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, has said that he will not run against President Bola Tinubu in the 2027 presidential election.
Wike In the interview, he also lambasted several opposition party leaders, however insisting that he would not leave the PDP.
“I will not contest again. I cannot contest against someone I’m working with. Who would win, if not him?” he said in an interview with BBC Pidgin.
Former Rivers State Governor Wike had run on the PDP ticket to become the party’s presidential candidate in the 2023 election, but he was defeated by former Vice President Atiku Abubakar.
The party’s choice to not zone its presidential ticket to the South also irritated the minister; this decision led to an internal controversy that impacted the party’s election results.
The Independent National Electoral Commission declared All Progressives Congress President Bola Tinubu the election’s victor.
“Let me ask you? Who is in the PDP? Achike Udenwa, a former governor of Imo, does not have one National Assembly member. He did not give his party three per cent of the votes.
“The former governor of Ebonyi State does not have one assembly member; he does not have one National Assembly member. You did not produce a governor; you are issuing threats. What are you threatening? You are empty.
“I cannot do that kind of thing (defect). I am not a fearful man. Am I a weak man? How will I build a house, and you will come and frustrate me to leave? Who will leave? You will leave; I will not allow you to spoil the house I built. I will remain,” he said.
In recent times, Wike’s PDP has been hit by a gale of defections by many prominent members of the party, including the Governor of Delta State, Sheriff Oborevwori; his deputy; members of the House of Assembly; and the state executive council.
He was joined by his predecessor, Ifeanyi Okowa, who was the vice presidential candidate of the PDP in the 2023 presidential election.
Other senior members of the party who moved to the APC are three senators from Kebbi State: Adamu Aliero, representing Kebbi Central; Yahaya Abdullahi of Kebbi North; and Garba Maidoki of Kebbi South.
