A top chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Eze Chukwuemeka Eze, has accused the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, of spreading false information about the zoning of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) 2023 presidential ticket.
Wike recently claimed that Governor Bala Mohammed of Bauchi State and others influenced the PDP’s decision to zone the presidential ticket to the North, contrary to the party’s policy of rotational zoning. However, Eze insists that Wike’s claim is a fabrication.
In a statement, Eze described Wike’s comments as “blatant lies” and argued that it was Wike who actually influenced the PDP to throw open its 2023 presidential primaries, not former Vice President Atiku Abubakar or Governor Bala Mohammed, as Wike suggested.
In a recent interview, Wike defended his position, stating that the PDP has always alternated the presidency between the North and South. Eze countered that Wike is attempting to deceive Nigerians and undermine the PDP’s zoning policy.
Eze accused Wike of being hell-bent on destroying the PDP to sustain his alliance with President Bola Tinubu and maintain his relevance in the APC administration.
In the statement, Eze questioned Wike’s motives, saying that the former Rivers State Governor is using his financial influence to manipulate people into supporting his claims.
Eze also revealed that Atiku Abubakar never opposed zoning the PDP presidential ticket to the South, but rather proposed that if the party’s presidency was to be zoned to the South, it should be to the South-East. He added that Wike became jittery and started abusing Peter Obi, who was still a member of the PDP at the time.
Eze further accused Wike of using his influence to get the G-5 governors to kick against Atiku’s proposal and instead vote to throw open the presidential primaries. He claimed that Wike’s actions led to the collapse of the PDP’s zoning policy and ultimately led to the party’s loss in the 2023 election.
Eze concluded by advising the PDP leadership to stop deceiving itself and forget about reconciling with Wike, as his goal is to destroy the party and make it easy for Tinubu to win in 2027. He urged Wike to resign from the APC government and see if he would remain relevant.
