Rivers Assembly: I’m still in PDP, Wike declares, shrugs off arrest rumours in France

Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, Nyesom Wike, has said the decision of the Speaker of the Rivers State House of Assembly and 15 other lawmakers to abandon the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, for the All Progressives Congress, APC, is the direct result of deepening divisions within the PDP.

Speaking after inspecting road projects in Abuja, Wike said the lawmakers acted within the provisions of the Constitution, given the current state of the party.

Asked to react to the development, Wike said, “It is unfortunate. I have always said everybody has the right to make a choice. The party is fully factionalised. And the requirement of the Constitution is that when a party is factionalised, members are allowed to leave.”

He made it clear, however, that he has no intention of dumping the PDP.

“I am still in the PDP. You will see that it is not everybody that has left. I believe 16 or 17 of them have left out of 27. We still have a good number, about 10, and we will continue to work together,” he said.

The minister urged the leadership of the PDP to urgently resolve the crisis tearing the party apart.

“At the end of the day, if you don’t put your house in order, it is the party that is losing. Those who left are free, but those who have remained in the party, we will continue to work together,” he declared.

Responding to viral claims that he had been arrested in France, the minister dismissed the rumours as politically motivated fabrications.

“Like you said, they were the ones who were arrested. On Saturday, we were inspecting Kubwa Road. People will like to distract you, but the moment you are focused and you know what you are doing, you will not be perturbed,” he said.

He recalled previous episodes of misinformation targeting him.