A chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Segun Sowunmi, has blamed the crisis in the party on President Bola Tinubu’s appointment of Nyesom Wike as minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
“People will like to say Wike, but I will rather say President Bola Tinubu,” Sowunmi said on Channels Television’s Politics Today on Wednesday, when asked about the PDP’s problem.
He faulted Tinubu’s decision to appoint Mr Wike as a minister in August last year.
Sowunmi said the president was wrong for not consulting the opposition’s leadership.
“He has no business appointing our members into his cabinet without talking to us.
“He had no business taking Nyesom Wike from our party and appointing him,” said the former Ogun PDP governorship candidate.
He noted that former President Olusegun Obasanjo consulted with opposition parties when forming a government of national unity.
“When Obasanjo wanted to form a government of national unity, he ran to the party, but what did he (Tinubu) do? He took one of us and put him in a strategic position, and suddenly, the whole thing is complicated.
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“If he wants our party to be okay, he should sack Wike and return him to PDP, but of course, he is not going to do that,” he said.
Meanwhile, on Wednesday, all 36 PDP state chairmen declared support for the party’s acting chairman, Umar Damagun, ahead of the 99 National Executive Committee meeting slated for November 28.
This was despite calls from some party members, including former national publicity secretary, Kola Ologbondiyan, for Damagum’s replacement over alleged poor leadership and recent electoral defeats in Edo and Ondo states.
