A bitter row has erupted between the National Secretary of the All Progressives Congress and the Federal Capital Territory Minister over alleged interference in Rivers State politics, with the party official demanding the immediate resignation of Nyesom Wike from President Bola Tinubu’s cabinet.
Senator Ajibola Basiru, in a strongly worded statement issued on Monday in Abuja, accused Wike of attempting to destabilise the ruling party and warned that the minister could not remain in the Federal Executive Council while allegedly sowing discord within APC structures.
“He cannot be in the Federal Executive Council of an APC Government and be causing confusion within any organ or structure of the Party at any level, using the leverage of that same office,” Basiru stated, adding that “the honourable thing to do is to resign his appointment as Minister.”
The confrontation marks a dramatic escalation in tensions within the APC over the party’s affairs in Rivers State, where Wike, a former two-term governor on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party, has remained a dominant political force despite his current appointment in an APC administration.
Basiru’s statement came in response to what he described as “the tirade of the Minister of the FCT against my person and my office as the National Secretary of the APC,” following his earlier defence of Governor Siminalayi Fubara’s office against disparaging remarks by APC National Vice Chairman (South-South), Victor Giadom.
The APC national secretary insisted that his position—that “all members of the NWC must accord any sitting Governor his due respect and that the Governors remain the leaders of the Party in their States”—was entirely appropriate and within his mandate.
He expressed shock that “such an innocuous statement can elicit such uncouth responses from no less than a member of the Federal Executive Council.”
In a direct challenge to Wike’s standing within the party, Basiru declared that “our records indicate that Minister Nyesom Wike is not a member of our Party APC so he lacks the locus to dabble into the affairs our Party.”
The statement represents a bold assertion by the party’s national secretary that Wike, despite serving as a minister under an APC administration and publicly supporting President Tinubu, has not formally joined the ruling party and therefore lacks the authority to interfere in its internal workings.
Wike had earlier on Monday issued a stern warning to Basiru during a thank-you visit to Oyigbo Local Government Area of Rivers State, where he told the APC national secretary to steer clear of Rivers politics.
“Let me warn those who come to Rivers State, because you have heard that we have N600bn, you come here, you collect, and you open your mouth to talk anyhow,” Wike stated, directing his message to Basiru.
The minister described Rivers State as a “no-go area” for political interference and cautioned that those who failed to heed his warning could face serious consequences.
“I say it here, take this message to your National Secretary, leave Rivers State alone. Go and ask those who have done it before. Don’t take our support for Mr President for granted. You have to be careful with statements you make,” Wike declared.
He added: “Today, you are enjoying in Osun, you don’t know those who did the work. You are opening your mouth to talk about Rivers State. Anything you see, take it. Go and ask other people what has happened to them before. If your hand burns, no be me burn am o. This state is a no-go area. Take the one you have taken, stop making unnecessary comments.”
The roots of the current dispute lie in remarks made by Giadom during Wike’s visits to Khana and Gokana Local Government Areas, where the APC vice chairman had referred to Governor Fubara as “the so-called Governor” and suggested that the governor could not secure a second term without going through Wike.
Basiru had responded with a Facebook post on Sunday, describing Giadom’s comments as unfortunate and insisting that the office of governor must be respected regardless of political differences.
“I find it unfortunate that a member of the NWC… was referring to a governor in our party as a ‘so-called governor of Rivers State’,” Basiru wrote. “The office of the governor is an exalted position, and whoever is occupying it must be respected, irrespective of whatever political differences you have.”
In his Monday statement, Basiru defended his intervention in Rivers State affairs, asserting that as National Secretary, he was “imbued with the responsibility to protect the interests of the Party and all its members and structures.”
He insisted that “my comments regarding the affairs of the APC in Rivers State cannot be an undue interference in the affairs of Rivers State,” and declared that “as National Secretary, my activities cannot be confined to my home state, Osun State.”
The APC scribe dismissed Wike’s allegations that party leaders were scrambling for a purported N600 billion largesse in Rivers State as “nothing but cheap blackmail which has become his stock-in-trade.”
Defending his personal integrity, Basiru stated that “my background, track-record is that of unquestionable integrity,” and challenged Wike to “prove his allegations or we may meet in court.”
He also addressed what he characterised as veiled threats from the FCT minister, warning that Wike was “not God and may be overplaying his political card.”
“My faith is in God and will not succumb to cheap threats such as the one from Wike,” Basiru declared, adding that he was “one of the young Nigerians that confronted Military rule, fighting for democracy, when the likes of Wike were nowhere in sight.”
On the question of Wike’s continued public support for President Tinubu, Basiru maintained that such support did not translate into APC membership or grant the minister authority over party affairs.
“His support for President Bola Ahmed Tinubu does not automatically make him a member of the APC,” the national secretary stated, noting that “millions of non-APC Nigerians also support Mr President and his own is no different.”
Basiru warned that “his attempt to destabilize our Party in Rivers State will not be tolerated and he cannot bring the spirit of PDP into the APC.”
The confrontation between Basiru and Wike highlights the complex political dynamics in Rivers State, where tensions between the FCT minister and Governor Fubara have dominated public discourse for months.
Wike, who served as Rivers governor from 2015 to 2023 on the PDP platform, played a prominent role in the 2023 presidential election after falling out with his party over its handling of the presidential primaries and the selection of the vice-presidential candidate.
His subsequent support for Tinubu’s presidential campaign and appointment as FCT Minister created an unusual political arrangement in which a former opposition stalwart now serves in the ruling party’s administration without formally decamping to the APC.
Governor Fubara, who succeeded Wike with the latter’s backing, has since been engaged in a protracted political struggle with his predecessor, leading to crises involving the State House of Assembly and control of party structures.
The APC in Rivers State has remained relatively marginal in the state’s politics, with the PDP traditionally dominant, though recent defections of lawmakers loyal to Wike from the PDP to the APC have altered the legislative arithmetic.
Basiru’s insistence that governors remain leaders of the party in their respective states reflects established APC practice, though the application of this principle in Rivers—where the governor belongs to the PDP and the most influential political figure serves in an APC administration—presents unique complications.
The national secretary’s demand for Wike’s resignation represents a significant escalation and raises questions about the minister’s political future, particularly if party organs begin to formally challenge his role in APC affairs.
