Trouble Looms as Wike Faces Criticism for Not Joining APC.
Tonye Cole, a former governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Rivers State, has urged Nyesom Wike, the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), to stop evading the issue and clearly declare his true political affiliation.
In an interview on Channels Television’s *Politics Today* on Friday, Cole expressed that Wike’s ongoing claim of membership in the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) while serving in President Bola Tinubu’s APC-led government is both confusing and harmful to democracy.
“Is he (Wike) in the APC or the PDP? As far as we know today, he is in the PDP,” Cole stated. “We cannot continue to confuse the electorate in Rivers State and mislead Nigerians because this is dangerous for democracy. You cannot be in one party while controlling another.”
Wike, who served as the governor of Rivers for eight years under the PDP, has been at the center of his party’s ongoing issues since the 2023 elections. Despite receiving a ministerial appointment in Tinubu’s cabinet, he maintains that he is still a member of the PDP, a position that Cole argues is untenable.
Cole pointed out that Wike’s refusal to officially join the APC has led to instability in Rivers politics and undermined the integrity of Nigeria’s multi-party system.
“The only person left to declare where he stands in all of this is the minister, Nyesom Wike,” Cole remarked.
“I would implore him to act honorably and join the APC. Leave the PDP and join the APC so that we can all stand together as one bloc—no divisions, no confusion, nothing.”
Cole emphasized that Nigeria’s democracy can only thrive if political parties operate independently without one individual attempting to straddle two camps.
“Let the PDP exist, the ADC exist, the Labour Party exist, and the YPP exist. That’s what democracy is about,” he added.
Wike’s unclear stance has further complicated the already fraught succession battle in Rivers, where his loyalists and supporters of Governor Siminalayi Fubara are engaged in a fierce power struggle.
