Political strategist and Group CEO of Global Investment and Trade Company, Baba Yusuf, has accused the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, of plotting to destabilise the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the buildup to the 2027 general elections.
Speaking on Arise Television’s Prime Time programme on Friday, Yusuf claimed that Wike’s political moves are aimed at weakening the PDP to prevent it from producing a strong presidential candidate, such as former President Goodluck Jonathan or former Labour Party flagbearer, Peter Obi.
According to him, the PDP’s failure to rein in Wike over the years has emboldened him to wield disproportionate influence within the party.
“You know, in my opening remarks, and I’ve said it consistently, even in the studio and my writings, it’s what I call the linchpin strategy of Minister Nyesom Wike. The end game for Minister Wike is to ensure that the PDP is not stable enough to bring a credible candidate, whether it is His Excellency, Peter Obi or His Excellency, former President Goodluck Jonathan,” Yusuf stated.
He further alleged that Wike has perfected a “spoiler game” within the PDP, stressing that the party’s elders allowed him to consolidate control by failing to act decisively years ago.
“In Hausa, we say ‘they have slept on their hands and have allowed the cob to become a lion.’ They were supposed to ensure four or five years ago that they did not allow the structure to be held the way Nyesom Wike has done,” Yusuf noted.
He added that Wike’s assignment, whether by design or political convenience, is to ensure that neither Jonathan nor Obi emerges as the PDP’s presidential candidate because either of them would pose a formidable challenge to the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) in 2027.
“This is the political cul-de-sac that PDP elders allowed themselves to be boxed into,” Yusuf concluded, while also criticizing the party for over-relying on individuals to bankroll its activities.
