By Jibrin Adamu
The opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) seems once again trapped in its perpetual crisis of identity and betrayal. With Kenneth Okonkwo’s explosive revelation that the party has effectively zoned its 2027 presidential ticket to former Rivers governor and current Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, a fresh storm is gathering over Nigeria’s already fragile political landscape.
If true, this would amount to nothing short of political surrender. Wike, the man who openly undermined PDP’s 2023 campaign, who consorted with the All Progressives Congress (APC), and who now serves at the pleasure of President Bola Tinubu, would become the flagbearer of the same opposition he helped cripple. To millions of Nigerians yearning for genuine opposition to Tinubu’s faltering rule, such a move reeks of political treachery.
Wike’s supposed ascendancy is not just about zoning or personal ambition; it is a symptom of PDP’s deeper rot — a party that has abandoned its founding principles and allowed personal fiefdoms to replace collective vision. It is an open secret that Wike’s loyalty now lies with Tinubu. Handing him the PDP ticket is akin to gifting the ruling APC a Trojan horse to demolish the last vestiges of opposition from within.
For Tinubu, the calculus is simple: weaken Atiku Abubakar permanently, fracture the opposition beyond repair, and run virtually unchallenged in 2027. For Wike, the benefits are obvious: power, relevance, and the possibility of cutting a deal that secures his political survival no matter who wins. But for the PDP, the consequences are fatal. A party that once boasted of being Africa’s largest political family is now reduced to a pawn in the chessboard of its adversaries.
The Nigerian people are not fooled. They watched as Wike and the so-called G-5 governors sabotaged PDP in 2023. They are watching again as PDP’s leadership toys with the future of the country for personal survival. If Wike becomes the face of PDP in 2027, it will not be a campaign — it will be a coronation for Tinubu.
The question now is whether PDP’s rank and file have the courage to resist this slow-motion political suicide, or whether history will remember them as the opposition that willingly handed its destiny to the very man determined to destroy it.
