The North East Unity Forum has said the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike must not go unpunished and urged the leadership of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to sanction him to restore discipline within the party.
The group in a statement signed by its convener, Abubakar Kabir, on Tuesday, stressed that the party can only regain its former glory by taking action against the former Rivers State governor, whom it described as a “self-serving politician.”
The group moved against Wike like other groups that are mounting pressure on the PDP to come down hard on the minister who served two terms as governor under the PDP and also served as minister and local government chairman for what they said is a troubling stance in the party.
The minister who appeared untouchable and has continued to be accorded protection by the PDP caretaker leadership has not hidden his anti-party activity, an accusation the PDP has finally summoned him to face its disciplinary committee.
Wike’s recent utterances which have jolted the PDP and its followers to the magnitude of the problem he is posing and what many within and outside the party have said is destructive to the party was his threat to cause crisis in PDP-controlled states.
At the party state congress at the party’s secretariat in Port Harcourt on Saturday, Wike warned PDP governors to avoid interfering in the party’s matters in the state and issued a threat to “put fire in their states.
“Let me assure all of you, not while we live will anybody take away the structure of the PDP from us. But let me tell people, I hear some governors who say they will take over the structure and give it back to somebody.”
The PDP group frowned at the threat arguing that his “threats to ‘put fire in the states’ of governors supporting Fubara are not only reckless but also a direct assault on the peace and stability of our nation.
“His declaration that governors interfering in Rivers State ‘will never sleep in your state’ is a dangerous provocation that threatens the very fabric of our democracy and national stability.
“Such inflammatory rhetoric is unbecoming of a public official and cannot be tolerated.
“Therefore, the NUF demands the immediate dismissal of Nyesom Wike as FCT Minister. His actions have demonstrated that he is unfit to hold any public office, let alone one as significant as the FCT Minister.”
The group said President Bola Tinubu “must choose between upholding the rule of law, decency, and common sense, or aligning with an irredeemably compromised politician like Wike, who is determined to create violence and instability to remain in the public limelight, to the detriment of Nigeria’s interests.
“Similarly, the PDP leadership must act decisively to sanction Wike and restore discipline and order within the party.”
It emphasised that “By doing so, the party will uphold the principles of democracy, unity, and loyalty, which are the bedrock of any political system.
“It is entirely justifiable to curb Wike’s political hooliganism after he has exposed himself as a self-serving and unprincipled politician, struggling to foment chaos to reclaim his lost relevance.
“Nigeria’s democracy depends on our collective ability to reject such dangerous individuals and uphold the principles of justice, respect, restraint, and integrity without giving room to characters that are charlatans.”
Why Wike Must Not Go Unpunished— Northern Group is first published on The Whistler Newspaper