Former Vice President and 2023 presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar, on Friday, fired back at Nyesom Wike, the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, calling him a traitor and accusing him of working against both his party and the interests of Nigerians.
The accusation comes on the heels of Wike’s recent comments during a media briefing in Abuja on Friday, where he dismissed the new opposition coalition spearheaded by Atiku, Labour Party’s Peter Obi, and former Kaduna State governor, Nasir El-Rufai, as self-serving and insincere.
The coalition, announced on March 20, 2025, is being framed by its architects as a united front to challenge President Bola Tinubu’s re-election in 2027. Its emergence has stirred heated debates across political circles, raising questions about opposition unity and the possibility of dislodging the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).
Wike, however, was unsparing in his criticism. “Those looking for a coalition are doing so for selfish interests, the likes of Atiku and other people. Which coalition, with whom?” he asked. “Everybody wants to become president of the country, nobody wants to say, ‘Let me build our party so that we’ll be in a formidable position.’”
He accused Atiku and others of abandoning the PDP’s internal crises, prioritizing personal ambitions over rebuilding the party. “You don’t do that,” Wike said. “If it doesn’t happen their way, then it’s ‘to your tents, oh Israel.’”
Responding to Wike’s remarks, Atiku’s spokesperson, Paul Ibe, described Wike as the last person qualified to speak on sincerity or party loyalty. He said Wike had betrayed the PDP by aligning with the APC, all while attempting to dismantle the party from within.
“This is a man who is actively working with the APC to destroy and undermine his own party and the interests of Nigerians,” Ibe stated. “Wike has no moral authority to speak on integrity. None.”
The statement did not mince words in its criticism of Wike’s current role in Rivers State politics either. “He is trying to assert total control over Rivers, working in cahoots with Abuja to destabilize the state government. How can such a person lecture anyone on unity or sincerity?”
Atiku’s camp, however, reaffirmed its commitment to the coalition, which it described as a vehicle for frustrated and hopeful Nigerians to take back their country. “The coalition isn’t about Atiku, Obi, or El-Rufai. It’s about Nigeria,” Ibe emphasized. “The people involved are simply tools to an end and that end is reclaiming a country lost to the chaos and mismanagement of the APC.”
As the road to 2027 begins to take shape, tensions within the opposition appear far from settled. The drama between party elders like Atiku and Wike not only reflects the deep fractures within the PDP but also reveals the urgency of building consensus if any coalition is to stand a real chance against the formidable power of incumbency.
Whether the new coalition will survive the egos and suspicions that have historically plagued Nigerian opposition alliances remains to be seen.
© Ripples Nigeria