Lamido Blasts Wike, Vows To Boycott PDP Meetings Until He’s Expelled
Former Governor of Jigawa State, Sule Lamido, has vowed to boycott all meetings of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) until the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, is expelled from the party alongside what he described as “other impostors.”
Lamido, a founding member and one of the party’s most prominent voices in Northern Nigeria, made the declaration in response to inquiries over his conspicuous absence from the PDP’s National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting held on Tuesday in Abuja.
“Wike is a disaster. He is a product of the PDP, made relevant by the party, nurtured and celebrated by the party. But today, he turns around to destroy it,” Lamido said.
“I cannot sit in the same meeting with impostors. Until the party removes these people, I will not attend PDP meetings. I am still a loyal member, but I won’t dignify this rot.”
The PDP has been grappling with a sustained leadership crisis that has crippled its internal organs.
Tuesday’s NEC meeting was the first in over a year, with the last one held on April 18, 2024.
Since then, repeated efforts to reconvene the party’s highest decision-making body have been thwarted by infighting, conflicting interests, and strategic maneuvering by rival factions.
The Tuesday meeting was eventually held at the party’s presidential campaign office, Legacy House, Maitama, after the PDP national secretariat in Wuse Zone 5 was sealed by the FCT Administration—an institution currently overseen by Wike, further fueling tensions among party loyalists.
Lamido’s outburst reflects growing discontent over what many view as a failure of the PDP’s National Working Committee (NWC) to enforce party discipline.
“What exactly is the NWC afraid of?” he asked. “Why hasn’t Wike been expelled? Why is Samuel Ortom still on the Board of Trustees after publicly endorsing [President] Tinubu? These are fundamental breaches. If this party is to survive, it must cleanse itself.”
Despite the controversy, Tuesday’s NEC meeting witnessed strong attendance from high-ranking PDP figures. Present were governors including Bala Mohammed (Bauchi), Seyi Makinde (Oyo), Caleb Mutfwang (Plateau), Ahmadu Fintiri (Adamawa), Agbu Kefas (Taraba), Peter Mbah (Enugu), Ademola Adeleke (Osun), Douye Diri (Bayelsa), and Dauda Lawal (Zamfara).
Also in attendance were acting National Chairman Umar Damagum, Deputy Chairman Taofeek Arapaja, Acting National Secretary Setonji Koshoedo, and National Publicity Secretary Debo Ologunagba.
From the party’s Board of Trustees (BoT) came Chairman Adolphus Wabara, Secretary Senator Ahmed Makarfi, and other political heavyweights like Bukola Saraki, Samuel Ortom, Ibrahim Shekarau, Jerry Gana, Bode George, and Ben Obi.
Wike’s continued influence in PDP circles has long been a subject of intense debate. Though instrumental to PDP’s 2023 campaigns, he later fell out with the presidential candidate Atiku Abubakar and openly fraternized with the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), culminating in his controversial ministerial appointment by President Bola Tinubu.
His presence, critics argue, undermines the party’s integrity and weakens its role as a viable opposition platform.
The pressure is now mounting on the PDP leadership to make decisive moves. While some voices within the party, like Lamido’s, are demanding a full purge of perceived anti-party actors, others advocate for reconciliation and rebuilding to prevent a complete collapse ahead of the 2027 general elections.
This disarray has led to many party bigwigs defecting to the APC, with PDP not accorded it deserved place in the ongoing coalition talks among other opposition parties.
Lamido Blasts Wike, Vows To Boycott PDP Meetings Until He’s Expelled is first published on The Whistler Newspaper
