Former Jigawa State Governor and prominent Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) chieftain, Sule Lamido, has declared he will no longer attend party meetings until Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, and former Benue State Governor, Dr. Samuel Ortom, are expelled from the party.
Lamido, a member of the PDP’s National Executive Committee (NEC) and Board of Trustees (BoT), made the declaration in an interview with journalists. He accused Wike and Ortom, among others, of working against the party’s interest in the 2023 general elections.
Recalling his tenure as National Secretary of the defunct Social Democratic Party (SDP), where he championed the expulsion of the late Arthur Nzeribe, Lamido expressed deep regret over the current lack of discipline within the PDP.
“During our time, the party was supreme. It held full authority, and everyone respected it, whether in the North, South, East, or West. Anyone — no matter how influential — who crossed the party line would be sanctioned,” Lamido stated.
He continued, “Today, people openly working against the PDP are still being tolerated. Someone like Wike, who claims to love the PDP but is clearly undermining it, should be expelled by the NWC. Why hasn’t that happened?”
Lamido specifically called out Ortom, noting, “Look at the Board of Trustees (BoT). People like Ortom, who declared support for Peter Obi in 2023, are still members. That’s why I’ve said I will not attend any PDP meeting unless Wike is expelled and people like Ortom are removed from the BoT. I remain a PDP member, but I will not participate in party functions or answer calls to meetings while these individuals remain in leadership.”
He questioned the legitimacy of continuing to serve alongside such individuals: “How can I sit with someone like Ortom in the BoT to discuss the future of PDP? Or someone like Anyanwu, who is rejected in his own zone and now being imposed by another zone? These are impostors.”
The former governor described Wike as an “ingrate,” alleging that the FCT Minister is bent on destroying the very platform that brought him to political relevance. “Here is someone who was honoured by the PDP, brought into relevance by the PDP, and now turns around to fight the very party that made him. Wike is, quite frankly, a disaster. What he has done is un-African and un-Nigerian,” Lamido asserted.
He further criticized Wike’s actions, particularly the sealing of the PDP secretariat. “I don’t understand how someone, simply because of his own ambition, can take things so personally and act so destructively. There used to be a party culture that prioritized collective good — something altruistic — but that seems lost now. To seal the PDP secretariat — a party that produced you, nurtured you — no matter your grievances, no matter your your bitterness, it’s like destroying your own home.”
Lamido dismissed Wike’s claim of financing the party, asking, “But is it wrong for a son to take care of his own mother? Does it now mean the mother must submit to the son and take orders from him simply because he’s providing her clothing? Wike is thinking in a very warped way. He lacks the values and traditions that define our political culture.”
He acknowledged President Bola Tinubu’s intervention in reopening the sealed PDP office. “I’m glad, however, that President Tinubu intervened. The office was reopened by his order. The very man Wike is trying to please by destroying his own political family is the one saying, ‘No, you can’t do that.’ So, in a way, Tinubu has exposed him — showing that Wike is unreliable, without tradition, without pedigree. And now, Tinubu too may likely abandon him very soon.”
