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Peoples Democratic Party National Publicity Secretary Ini Ememobong has said the party’s internal battle against FCT Minister Nyesom Wike is essentially a strategy for confronting the All Progressives Congress, because he believes Wike and his allies are working for the APC from within the PDP.
Speaking on Channels Television, Ememobong was asked how the PDP expects to challenge the APC when it is divided between the Turaki faction and the Wike-backed caretaker committee, with both groups in court.
He agreed that the situation looks like two parties inside one, because one group is PDP and the other is APC. He said Wike’s group is open about their intentions and actions and that it is not hidden that they are working against the PDP.
According to Ememobong, the PDP is already fighting the APC by fighting Wike. He said the party is trying to remove APC influence from its structures, protect the internal boundaries of the party, and ensure only PDP members control its affairs.
He cited public displays of Wike with APC leaders, including the APC national chairman, and Wike’s ability to anoint candidates in the APC, as proof that he is working for the ruling party.
He argued that Wike’s loyalists within the PDP are APC members trying to destroy the PDP for the APC, so sanitizing the PDP amounts to a battle against the APC.
Ememobong admitted the situation is embarrassing. He said it is unfortunate that after 27 years of democracy in Nigeria, the country is still dealing with crude and banal internal fights instead of consolidating democratic institutions.
In his words, “So in a sense, you’re right that we have the APC in the PDP, and we have the PDP in the PDP. So I know I agree with you, because when you look at it, I mean, they are not hidden about their intention; they are open about it, the things they are doing.”
“And so there’s not a problem with that. Clearly, we are fighting; we’re already fighting the APC by fighting Wike. So we’re trying to extricate and make sure that the internal boundaries of the PDP remain sacrosanct and have only PDP members within it. So that is why fighting Wike is a strategy of fighting the APC.”
