ENUGU, Nigeria (VOICE OF NAIJA)- The Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, has come down hard on former Vice President Atiku Abubakar for pushing a coalition of opposition parties ahead of the 2027 presidential election.
Wike accused Atiku of prioritizing personal ambition over party unity.
Atiku, a founding member of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), has been at the forefront of efforts to forge an alliance aimed at unseating President Bola Tinubu in the next general election.
He recently announced that the coalition would adopt a platform capable of delivering good governance to Nigerians.
However, speaking during a media chat on Friday, Wike dismissed Atiku’s coalition plans as a selfish strategy aimed at securing the presidential ticket for himself once again.
Vanguard reports that he criticized the former Vice President’s decision to seek partnerships outside the PDP, noting that the party’s governors have already rejected the coalition talks, maintaining that the PDP remains open only to those willing to join and build from within.
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“On the side of those seeking coalition is selfish interest, the likes of Atiku and other people. Which coalition with who? Why not come to your party? Everybody wants to be president of the country, nobody wants to say, ‘let me build our party, so that at the end of the day, our party will be in a formidable position as an opposition party to take over power.
“You don’t do that. Only what you want is, ‘let me find a way how I will be the one.’ If that does not happen — ‘to your tents, O Israel”, Wike said.
Wike, a former governor of Rivers State and influential figure within the PDP, warned that Atiku is set to repeat the same errors that led to the PDP’s internal crisis and eventual defeat in the 2023 presidential election.
“You make the mistake yesterday, you want to repeat the same mistake today, tomorrow you make the same mistake and then you come out to say you were rigged out, who rigged you out?” he asked pointedly.
“You’ve already rigged yourself by causing crisis”, he said.