Udenta O. Udenta, founding National Secretary of the Alliance for Democracy and a well-known political activist, has accused President Bola Tinubu and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) of deploying the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, to destabilise the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
Speaking during an interview with Arise News on Thursday, Udenta claimed that Wike’s recent actions at the PDP National Secretariat were carried out “on the orders of the President.”
He alleged that the FCT Minister’s political maneuvers within the PDP are not independent decisions but part of a broader strategy orchestrated by the Presidency.
According to him, the crisis currently rocking the PDP is no longer an internal matter but “externally engineered,” insisting that the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) is actively weakening the opposition.
Udenta acknowledged that the PDP, like any major political organisation, experiences normal internal disagreements but argued that outside interference has significantly intensified the crisis.
“Wike is not an autonomous administrative or political force. He is a dependent force,” he said.
“Wike went to Wadata Plaza on behalf of the President because it was the President who was effectively at Wadata Plaza, not Wike. If Wike holds a press briefing, it is the President holding that briefing.
“As we struggle to rebuild the party and strengthen the brand, the Presidency and the APC are working to diminish the PDP.”
He also accused INEC of inconsistency and selective compliance in the PDP leadership dispute, alleging that the commission chooses which court orders to obey based on preferred outcomes.
“INEC has a mandate to be clear and unequivocal,” he said. “In Ekiti, INEC’s actions indicated it did not accept Abdurrahman as acting chairman, but it later recognised Damagun. Did INEC accept the suspension of four NWC members? INEC has not said a word.”
Udenta further blamed the police for enabling what he described as the factional takeover of the PDP Secretariat.
He claimed that despite earlier complaints lodged with the police by the son of the newly elected PDP chairman, Tanimu Turaki (SAN), officers still allowed the Anyanwu faction to gain access to the secretariat in the early hours of the morning.
