Segun Atanda/
The crisis rocking the All Progressives Congress deepened on Monday as the party’s National Secretary, Senator Ajibola Basiru, declared that Nyesom Wike is not a member of the APC and therefore has no moral or political right to interfere in its affairs, insisting that the only honourable option left for the Federal Capital Territory minister is to resign.
Basiru’s position followed a fiery outburst by Wike in Rivers State, where the former governor warned the APC scribe to “leave Rivers State alone” and described the state as a “no-go area” for external political interference.
Speaking during a thank-you visit to supporters in Oyigbo Local Government Area, Wike accused unnamed APC leaders of eyeing what he described as an alleged N600 billion “largesse” in Rivers State.
He cautioned that political meddlers could “burn their hands” and warned that his support for President Bola Tinubu should not be taken for granted.
The comments provoked a sharp response from Basiru, who, in a statement issued in Osogbo, Osun State, framed the dispute as a fundamental contradiction within government.
“My attention has been drawn to the tirade of the Minister of the FCT against my person and my office as the National Secretary of the APC,” Basiru said. “This was provoked by my position that all members of the NWC must accord any sitting governor his due respect and that governors remain the leaders of the party in their states.”
He added that Wike’s reaction was disproportionate and unbecoming of a cabinet member.
“It is shocking that such an innocuous statement can elicit such uncouth responses from no less than a member of the Federal Executive Council,” he said.
Basiru made it clear that the heart of the matter was Wike’s political status.
“For the avoidance of doubt, our records indicate that Minister Nyesom Wike is not a member of our party, the APC,” he said. “He therefore lacks the locus to dabble into the affairs of our party.”
The APC secretary stressed that his own intervention in Rivers State politics was strictly within party boundaries. “As National Secretary of the APC, I am imbued with the responsibility to protect the interests of the party and all its members and structures,” he said.
“Hence, my comments on the affairs of the APC in Rivers State cannot be an undue interference in the affairs of Rivers State.”
He rejected the notion that his role should be geographically limited. “As National Secretary, my activities cannot be confined to my home state, Osun State,” Basiru added.
Responding to Wike’s allegation that he and other APC leaders were scrambling for an alleged N600 billion windfall, Basiru described the claim as defamatory.
“I take exception to Wike’s reference to a certain N600 billion largesse in the state for which I and other APC leaders are scrambling,” he said. “This is nothing but cheap blackmail which has become his stock in trade.”
He challenged the FCT minister to substantiate the claim. “My background and track record are those of unquestionable integrity and I challenge him to prove his allegations or we may meet in court,” Basiru said.
Basiru also dismissed Wike’s comments as thinly veiled intimidation.
“As to his veiled threat against me, let me remind Wike that he is not God and may be overplaying his political card,” he said. “My faith is in God and I will not succumb to cheap threats.”
Drawing a contrast between their political histories, Basiru added, “I am one of the young Nigerians that confronted military rule, fighting for democracy, when the likes of Wike were nowhere in sight.”
He further argued that Wike’s public support for President Tinubu did not confer APC membership or authority. “Let me also remind Nyesom Wike that his support for President Bola Ahmed Tinubu does not automatically make him a member of the APC,”
Basiru said. “Millions of non-APC Nigerians also support Mr President and his own is no different.”
Accusing the minister of importing opposition party tactics into the ruling party, Basiru warned that such conduct would not be tolerated. “His attempt to destabilise our party in Rivers State will not be tolerated and he cannot bring the spirit of the PDP into the APC,” he said.
Basiru concluded by tying Wike’s non-membership directly to his call for resignation.
“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,” he said. “If he insists on interfering in the affairs of a party he does not belong to, the honourable thing to do is to resign his appointment as minister.”
The exchange has heightened tensions within the ruling party and reignited debate over Wike’s place in President Tinubu’s government, as well as the limits of political influence for non-party members holding key federal appointments.
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