Wike Asked PDP To Back Tinubu Unopposed — Pearse

A chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Adetokunbo Pearse, has alleged that former Rivers State governor, Nyesom Wike, once demanded that the party should not field a presidential candidate and instead allow President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to run unopposed.

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Pearse made the claim while speaking on Breakfast Central on News Central TV, amid the deepening crisis within the PDP, particularly following the appointment of Tanimu Turaki as interim chairman by a faction loyal to Oyo State governor, Seyi Makinde.

He said, “This Wike and co, so anxious for reconciliation, it shows you that they know that they don’t have a say anymore. We tried to reconcile many times. And Wike said to us, the only way I will reconcile with you is if you do not field the presidential candidate and you leave Tinubu to be the only one running.”

Pearse described the alleged demand as a threat to Nigeria’s democracy, warning that it would deny citizens the right to choose their leaders.

“Come on, this man is a danger to democracy in this country. And what that means is that Nigerians don’t have a choice of who they will elect, either as president or senator or whatever, if they only have a PC,” he said.

He also decried declining voter turnout in recent elections, citing figures from the 2023 general elections and subsequent off-cycle polls.

“The 2023 election, 90 million people registered to vote, only 24 million or 25 million voted. After that, the Edo election, 24 per cent turnout. The Ondo election, 26 per cent turnout. The worst case, look, nobody wants to vote for this party, APC. In Abuja recently, the council election, 15 per cent turnout. That is what they want to impose on Nigeria, that with a 10 per cent turnout for President Tinubu in 2027, he will declare himself the winner.”

Pearse insisted that the PDP would field candidates in future elections, stressing that the party would not allow any attempt to undermine the democratic process.

“We will not allow that in the PDP. We are fielding candidates. INEC has no choice, but if INEC goes against the ruling of the Supreme Court, INEC will be in trouble.

“So we are going to register our party back with INEC, our officials who are now controlling our National Working Committee, and we are submitting our names of our candidates from president all the way to state assembly, all over the country.”

On the issue of party leadership and recognition, Pearse maintained that there is no faction within the PDP, noting that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) recognises only one party.

“INEC does not recognize factions. There is only one PDP,” he said.

He added, “INEC does not recognize any leadership of the parties. INEC said, go back to where you were under Damagum, when these people have been suspended. So that is where we are. It is not a question of INEC recognizing any leader in the party. There is only one PDP, the one that was registered with INEC in 1998. The one that is holding the National Working Committee meeting, that is PDP. The other one is Wike and company. Their team continues to run. It doesn’t mean anything.”

The PDP has been embroiled in an internal leadership crisis, with rival factions laying claim to the party’s structure ahead of future elections.