You’re starting a fight you can’t win, Wike warns Makinde

Cautions PDP members ahead of party’s national convention to demonstrate loyalty or risk being sidelined

STEPHEN GBADAMOSI, IBADAN

“A fight you can’t fight, don’t start it,” the minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, declared on Monday, as he took a swipe at Oyo State governor, Engineer Seyi Makinde, during the 107th National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

Wike, according to his media aide, Lere Olayinka, “in a blunt remark, described as ‘unfortunate’ claims allegedly made by Makinde regarding meetings involving him and President Bola Tinubu, insisting such assertions were misleading.

“It’s unfortunate a fight you cannot fight, you started,” Wike was quoted as saying.

“Politics is not contract work,” he said.

He went further to caution against treating politics as a business venture.

“They are two different things,” Wike said.

“You wanted money; I wanted power. Stay where you are as a contractor.

“Politics is not a contract of Shell. I didn’t go into politics to be a contractor. I went into politics to have power,” Wike declared.

The FCT Minister used the occasion to caution party members against engaging in unnecessary political battles, stressing that politics required strategy, not bravado.

He further warned PDP members ahead of the party’s March 29 to 30 national convention to demonstrate loyalty or risk being sidelined.

“After this NEC meeting, anybody that doesn’t show commitment to the convention don’t come back after and say you are fully back. I will not accept that,” he stated.

Wike also emphasised the need for unity, urging leaders to intensify reconciliation efforts while maintaining sincerity among members.

Meanwhile, the PDP at the NEC meeting came up with a resolution to move into its National Convention as a unified body and adopt a “no victor, no vanquished” stance to bridge internal divisions.

The meeting served as the final clearing house for the party’s leadership ahead of the March 29 and 30 elective convention.

In a communiqué issued after the session, the NEC officially ratified the reports from the recently concluded ward, local government, state and zonal congresses.

The communique was signed by Alhaji Abdulrahman Mohammed and Senator Samuel Anyanwu, both Chairman and Secretary of the party’s National Caretaker Working Committee.

Party leaders described these exercises as transparent and credible steps that proved the PDP’s organisational health.

Earlier, Chairman of the National Caretaker Working Committee, Abdulrahman Mohammed, told the assembly that the party has successfully navigated recent legal and political hurdles.

He attributed much of this stability to the role played by Wike, praising his “doggedness and uncommon sacrifices” in keeping the party structures intact.

“We have made significant progress in restoring confidence. Through collective resolve and maturity, we can now say the PDP remains one indivisible family”, said Mohammed.

A major outcome of the meeting was the formal affirmation of the zoning formula for national elective positions.

According to the communiqué, the NEC adopted the arrangement based on the party’s principles of equity and national balance.

Chairman of the Board of Trustees (BoT), Senator Mao Ohuabunwa, urged members to accept the zoning recommendations with an open mind.

He noted that while no system satisfies everyone, the “greater good of the party” must come first.

Ohuabunwa also pointed to the ongoing electronic membership registration as a vital tool for modernisation, calling it the foundation of a serious political organisation.

The NEC designated the theme for the convention as: “A Convention of Inclusiveness, Unity and Renewal.”

Legislative leaders, including Senate Minority Leader Abba Moro and House Minority Leader Kingsley Chinda, joined the call for discipline, stating that the party is now positioned as a strong alternative for Nigerians.

As the meeting wrapped up, the leadership directed all convention committees to ensure a seamless exercise and concluded that the PDP is now prepared to provide “purposeful leadership and national direction” as it eyes the 2027 polls.