A chieftain in the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Segun Sowunmi, has accused President Bola Tinubu of being the cause of the crisis in the opposition party.
Sowunmi spoke on Wednesday when he featured on Channels Television’s Politics Today.
The former Ogun PDP governorship candidate said the appointment of Nyesom Wike as federal capital territory (FCT) minister by Tinubu is causing problems within the party.
He criticised the president for bringing Wike, a PDP member, into his cabinet without consulting the party.
Sowunmi noted Wike’s appointment into Tinubu’s cabinet deepened the leadership crisis within the opposition party.
“People will like to say Wike is the cause of the PDP’s problem, but I would rather say it is President Bola Ahmed Tinubu,” Sowunmi said.
“He has no business appointing our member into his cabinet without talking to us. He had no business taking Nyesom Wike from our party and appointing him.”
Sowunmi noted that former President Olusegun Obasanjo consulted with opposition parties when forming a government of national unity.
“When Obasanjo wanted to form a government of national unity, he ran to the party, but what did he (Tinubu) do? He took one of us and put him in a strategic position, and suddenly, the whole thing is complicated,” he said.
“If he wants our party to be okay, he should sack Wike and return him to PDP, but of course, he is not going to do that.”
Sowunmi rejected claims that the PDP is on the brink of collapse, noting that the party has survived a lot of turbulent periods.
“PDP is this, PDP is that; who killed it? A party that did not die when Obasanjo tore his card, a party that did not die when Jonathan stood down, a party that did not die all these years is going to die? PDP dieth not,” he said.
On the ongoing chairmanship dispute, Sowunmi said the party is waiting for a court ruling to determine the next course of action.
“The problem with a ‘quick to go court party’ is that their hands are always tied,” he said.
“If you do something that is ultra vires, they’ll come back and tell you it’s ultra vires; we can’t do anything about it under the circumstances.
“By making sure that every time we have a chairman, we have two alternative vice-chairmen, in case something happens to one from one zone, we can back up with another.”
Sowunmi also defended the PDP’s role as a constructive opposition party.
He condemned the approach of the All Progressives Congress (APC) prior to its ascension to power, criticising its tactics of undermining the country’s image.
“Do you think that nonsense they (APC) were doing— calling people into the streets everyday, shaming the country, running up and down the place, demarketing the country, refusing Jonathan to buy arms to fight insecurity—is how to run a country?” Sowunmi asked.
“We (PDP) are far more mature than them because we understand what it means to protect the territorial integrity and the brand equity of Nigeria.”
