Robinson Ewor, the acting chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Rivers, has slammed Nyesom Wike, a former governor of the state and current minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), for plunging the party into an unresolved crisis.

Mr Ewor, who spoke on Monday, also accused the FCT minister of causing the crisis in the PDP for his political gains.

He explained that Mr Wike deliberately worked against the party in the 2023 general election because he lost the ticket to Atiku Abubakar.

“Wike wanted to be president of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, and he submitted to the primaries of the party, but Atiku won the party’s ticket.  

“Thereafter, Wike wanted to be the vice presidential candidate, but because Atiku did not pick him, Wike started the crisis in PDP. He was the genesis of the crisis in PDP because Wike lost the presidential ticket,” he said on Arise TV on Monday.

According to Mr Ewor, the ex-governor formed the “G5 Governors” in the heat of the crisis to destroy the party and narrow Mr Abubakar’s chances of winning the election.

He noted that the opposition party has moved beyond the defeat in the 2023 general election, saying the leaders are on a mission to bring everyone on board.

The Rivers PDP chairman also said Mr Wike is no longer a member of the PDP and has no moral justification to advise leaders of the party.

“How do you advise the party, which you are no longer a member? How do you advise people you’re busy destroying? How do you advise a party that you’re at the forefront of destroying?

“The crisis we fight in PDP today is not because the PDP is in crisis; it is because the FCT minister is on a mission to destroy the party,” he said.  

Mr Ewor added, “He has started it in Rivers State. What is the crime or sin of Fubara? He did not commit any crime, but because he wanted to control the structure of the party, the structure of government, the state House of Assembly and every other known structure in the state to enable him to rig the election in 2027 for the APC. This is just the crisis in Rivers State.”

Although he’s yet to publicly renounce his membership of the PDP, Mr Wike has not seized from disparaging the opposition party’s leaders since he was appointed a minister in the APC-led government.

Last week, Mr Wike, who appeared on live TV, said he is ready for a “fight to finish” in the PDP, maintaining that he’s ready to face whatever challenges arise within the opposition party.

The FCT minister had also been accused of being instrumental in the suspension of Governor Siminalayi Fubara from office and the subsequent declaration of a state of emergency in Rivers.