Wike tackles PDP BOT chairperson Nwabara, says he’s ‘inconsistent’

The Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, has described Adolphus Wabara, the chairperson of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Board of Trustees (BOT), as being “inconsistent in character” after the latter waded into the political crisis in Rivers State.

Mr Wike, a former governor of Rivers State, spoke on Wednesday during a media chat to mark his first anniversary as the FCT minister.

A video clip which showed the minister making the remark has been circulating on various WhatsApp groups.

Mr Wike and his successor, Governor Simi Fubara of Rivers State, have been engaged in a protracted political feud over the control of the political structure in the state.

The FCT minister’s criticism of Mr Wabara is apparently because the chairperson led other members of the PDP BOT to visit Governor Fubara in Port Harcourt over the political crisis in the state.

During Tuesday’s visit, Mr Wabara expressed worry over the possibility of Governor Fubara exiting the PDP because of the ongoing fight with his predecessor, Mr Wike.

During the visit, the chairperson said they were concerned that the crisis could result in the PDP losing the oil-rich state to the All Progressives Congress.

The Rivers governor, however, assured the BOT chairperson and other PDP leaders that he had no plans to exit the party.

Wike’s ‘grouse’

Mr Wike, during his Wednesday media chat, tackled Mr Wabara.

The FCT minister said Mr Wabara is an “inconsistent character” because the BOT chairperson endorsed Governor Alex Otti of Abia State for a second term less than one year into his (Otti) administration.

Mr Otti was elected governor under the Labour Party platform in 2023. His first term will end in May 2027.

Mr Wabara, a former president of the Nigerian Senate, hails from Abia State.

“The governor (Otti) is reliable and a true man of honour. With this feat alone, his second term in office is already well assured. He is a master strategist. He wasn’t a top banker for nothing,” Mr Wabara said in October 2023 during the flag-off ceremony for the reconstruction of the Port Harcourt Road in Aba, Abia State.

Governor Otti had spent only six months (about 182 days) in office when Mr Wabara, who was present at the ceremony, made the remark.

“He (Wabara) is the PDP BOT chairman. The Governor of his state, Alex Otti, had not stayed one year when Wabara told Otti ‘Your second tenure is guaranteed.’ (That’s) second tenure of another political party. And this is a man who said he has the conscience of the party,” Mr Wike said during the media chat.

In another instance, the FCT minister said Mr Wabara was among those who called for the then PDP National Chairperson, Iyorchia Ayu’s resignation in 2023, but later backtracked, after which he was “compensated” with the BOT chairmanship position.

“Do you know how he (Wabara) became the chairman of the PDP BOT? Ask him. In 2023, he led a team to visit me when the crisis in PDP was about the presidential candidate (Atiku Abubakar).

“That was the team he led. He said they were going to submit a report (about the call for southerners to produce the national chairperson of the party since Atiku emerged presidential candidate),” Mr Wike said.

Continuing, the minister said: “Even in the meeting, he (Wabara) was telling me about the problem (and) that they would not budge, and I said that the right thing must be done. Ask him about the report.

“The next day they made him acting chairman of the PDP BOT to compensate him.”

Background on the Rivers crisis

The political rift between Messrs Fubara and Wike has battered the Rivers House of Assembly, splitting lawmakers into two factions – one loyal to Mr Wike and the other to Mr Fubara.

Apart from the state assembly, the feud has also divided the ruling PDP in the state into two camps and has disrupted governance in the state.

Before Mr Wabara’s visit to Governor Fubara, Mr Wike appeared to be enjoying the support of the PDP at the national level, with his loyalists making the list of the party caretaker committees against Mr Fubara’s wishes.

Recently, a court barred the PDP from conducting party congresses in the state but the national leadership of the party released voting materials for Mr Wike’s loyalists, who went ahead to conduct the congress in a violation of the court order.

Governor Fubara and his supporters boycotted the congress.

Amidst the support enjoyed by Mr Wike from the national leadership of the party, Governor Fubara, two months ago, told some National Assembly members, who visited him in Port Harcourt, that the PDP has failed him and his supporters.