No doubt, PDP has a Nyesom Wike problem. Forget his raucous and rambling messaging, he is adamant on a southerner in the villa till 2031 and his “party” still appears not committed to his conviction, the same way it wasn’t in 2023. Despite his perceived chummy-chummy with the acting National chairman of his “party” Iliya Damagum, Wike has a recent history to teach him that the “needful” would still be done at the last minute for an average Northern political establishment royalty to give the North what it wants. Political North wants to beat Bola Tinubu badly in 2027 and Damagum can’t be seen standing in the way of a bigger picture. It’s possibly why he is seen going out of the rule book to hand Rivers PDP to Wike as compensation for the national platform the FCT Minister would not be allowed to fully have as long as North wants to make Atiku Abubakar president. Wike appears to know this as he shifts gear calling for an elected national chairman and other exco members. Politicians will sort themselves out, and thankfully it’s the judiciary they now use mostly as well as state power of coercion. Rampant political assassinations that heralded this republic have thankfully receded to a blurry yesterday though almost none was resolved by security agencies. Top political figures now secure themselves more, at least as humanly possible, with men and technology, while some are practically putting their security in their own hands, by openly slugging rifles to public events, as seen in a recent viral video somewhere in the East.
Yoruba will describe what Wike is doing in and with PDP as kaka keku ma je sese a fi se awa danu (it will be useful to no one if I won’t have it). Such a mindset has led to the demise of many two-timing men, where none of the “sharing” women, is ready to let go, including the party that has no need for the two-timer. Wike is obviously not running for president in 2027 even if PDP yields the platform to him, to fail once and for all, and to forever quieten him, just like it did with Dino Melaye in Kogi, when it was obvious that even his Ijumu people would desire a better representation.
The FCT Minister is Tinubu’s wingman who is content with being a bogeyman in PDP and would have enjoyed these dual identities for as long as his relevance would carry him, only that the North is desperate again and like in 2014 when it looked West-ward to smile again, it would only need to look East-ward this time to smile again in 2027. And unlike 2023, the deprivation desperation across the land would easily persuade seemingly impossible alliances that even dreams would not have hitherto conjured. Like I said in past writings, Tinubu isn’t only vulnerable but very very beatable in 2027 even in a very tainted and uneven contest, regardless of what becomes of the economy in the next two years, which only a miracle now, can turn into a thing of joy for Nigerians. His presidential record and ability are already cast. Yoruba always wonder about a man who spends two decades laying foundation for madness; how long is he going to be mad for? Yes, the foundation of a structure that will endure vicissitudes must be firmly planted and could take a while, but you don’t contour out the landscape further with meaningless burrowing, all in the name of starting afresh. The part of the building that most thoughtfulness should go into, remains the foundation. You can’t do a flight of fancy with it, because some spirit possessed you on your very first day at work. The foundation of the economy appears damaged and Psalm 11:3 is rhetorically asking “if the foundations are being destroyed what can the righteous do? The Bible has answers. Desperate Nigerians should ask God through His Word the ways out of the dolorous season.
No politician has the magic wand and Nigerians’ eyes should be wide to that by now, at least not after the one called idan (magical) himself has worked more misfortune into the lives of both his haters and hailers. But politicians won’t stop baying for power which is fast becoming a couture for self-aggrandizement for most of them worldwide and a spectacle is looming in the tragicomical tryst expected to feature Wike/Tinubu, PDP and the Judiciary, for the soul of the nation ahead of 2027.
Under Ariwoola as CJN, Wike walked unhindered into the heart of the Judiciary using patronage. As he was building for judiciary in Abuja, his wife was being built into the penultimate court in the land. Yoruba will say “gbafun Gbada nile, ni gbafun Gbada loko (rubbing backs).
Wike has repeatedly said he would not seek the presidency as long as Tinubu is on the ballot. No matter what, as they say, the president is expected to be on the ballot, God sparing his life. But nothing is given. At least the Biden bounce and thud is a lesson in assuming nothing. The supposed most powerful man on the earth had locked the nomination of his Democratic party and the leverage of incumbency was counting for him in the photo-finish he was doing with Republican Trump in battleground states and national polling. Then he dared God to come down and get him off the ballot and God proved His Omnipotence to him using his closest allies like ex-Speaker Nancy Pelosi to turn on him. The rest is history with his three-day COVID excuse.
Even if God is stopping Tinubu in 2027, APC is never likely to field Wike. South West would want to retain the ticket and for a leader without a visible and known successor after falling out with Rauf Aregbesola, a likely free-for-all, won’t still favour Wike, with the one leg in, one leg out, he is doing with APC. The absence of Tinubu on the 2027 ballot won’t also open the PDP presidential ticket to him, though the opposition party is believed to run more on filthy lucre than principle and constitutional integrity, even if Damagum is properly elected by Wike’s billions and ready to do the bidding of the payer of the piper. As currently constituted South and its leaders are dsadvantaged in PDP, despite the recent ruckus raked by Bode George against Atiku Abubakar, arguably the opposition leader in the country, though Peter Obi is hard on his heels and the younger man, is more nationally regarded in the public opinion court.
So if Wike currently has no presidential path in PDP, why is he fighting to finish? Why not in APC where he is better acknowledged, at least by Tinubu, the official leader of the ruling party? Definitely, the Ikwerre fellow would have self-convincing reason(s) to continue playing what is widely seen as a spoiler role in the party he professes its front-row membership. Maybe it has to do with the personal war he declared on Atiku leading to the victory he cost the PDP candidate in the 2023 poll and his desire to reinflict the same electoral pain in 2027, considering the cold reality Turaki is on his way to another nomination by PDP. But what happens after another Turaki loss, if indeed he would lose this time to Tinubu, though I personally believe only a Southern candidate on another platform with a semblance of national acceptability, backed majorly by the North, stands the chance of sending Tinubu back to Bourdillion in 2027 and there is no chance in heaven Wike is that candidate. So, why doing what Yoruba will call atoko wa ba ile je (the one who comes from the village to scatter the city). Yoruba will accuse such a fellow to be mon daru (one who relishes confusion).
Another atoko wa ba ile je, Ekiti’s Ayo Fayose who claims to lead PDP in the state but endorsing APC’s incumbent Governor Abiodun Oyebanji, was seen in a viral video warning Governor Siminalayi “sim” Fubara of Rivers of Wike’s capacity for unending hideous acrimony once he starts, during the state dinner “washing” Fubara’s election, with Wike beaming beside his now-estranged political son. How can one glory in Yoruba describing him as ala jai gbila (the one who can’t be persuaded to embrace peace once in a fight). When someone won’t let when he should give peace a chance, Yoruba have a way of predicting a shameful end with “alaseju pere ni te (the unrelenting will soon tank). Even for those who are hailing his supposed heroism in ensuring a Southern president which was a correct equity call to make in 2023, the spirit of aja i gbila (scattering everything without peace allowance) would soon make this unlikely hero of Southern Nigeria a villain back home. Wike is already a marked man in the North, he should position his politics to reflect his growing image as a leader from the South. Nothing says he must beTinubu’s night soil-man in 2027 to remain relevant. And he doesn’t have to destroy platforms where credible alternatives to the president can emerge. The time to reset is now.
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