‘Political 419’ – Wike dismisses Makinde’s PDP-APM alliance

By Omeiza Ajayi, ABUJA

Federal Capital Territory (FCT) minister Nyesom Wike on Thursday dismissed the alliance between the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the Allied Peoples Movement (APM), describing the narrative as fraudulent and squarely blaming Oyo State Governor Seyi Makinde for peddling what he called “Political 419” ahead of the 2027 elections.

Wike, who spoke with journalists during an inspection of ongoing road projects in Gomani-Yangoji, Kwali Area Council, Abuja, said neither the PDP nor the Independent National Electoral Commission INEC had any knowledge of such an arrangement.

He said, “When I say people are fraudulent, they think I am joking. And that is the 419 we are talking about. 

“There is no alliance between PDP and Allied Peoples Movement or any other political party, as the case may be. INEC also knows that there is nothing called a PDP-APM alliance,” Wike added.

The minister argued that ongoing internal activities within the PDP, including the screening of presidential aspirants, demonstrated that the party remained fully independent and had entered no coalition arrangement with any other party. He challenged doubters to watch who the PDP would eventually submit to INEC as its presidential candidate.

Turning to Makinde, Wike alleged that the Oyo governor was exploiting the APM platform purely to advance a personal presidential ambition he described as dead before it could take off.

“What you have is Seyi Makinde joining APM to be able to actualise his presidential ambition, which is already dead on arrival,” he said.

Wike also said the Bauchi governor, Bala Mohammed, had never made any such claim and that the entire PDP-APM narrative existed only in political imagination.

“It’s unfortunate. We know that has been his game plan, and we would say he cannot fly the flag of PDP,” Wike said of Makinde.

Asked about comments by the Rivers State governor regarding his continued membership of the APC, Wike appeared unbothered, pushing back against any suggestion that the governor faced a crisis within the ruling party.

“Sorry for what? Why are you saying ‘problem’ when nobody has told you he has a problem? The man has told you he still remains APC. So what is the problem now?” he asked.

He insisted that whatever the governor’s standing within the APC amounted to was strictly the party’s internal matter.

“Ask me about PDP; I will answer you. Because how will you ask me what happens? Assuming he has a problem, it’s their internal affairs,” Wike stated.

Earlier during the inspection, Wike expressed satisfaction with progress on the 13-kilometre Gomani-Yangoji road, saying it was on course for inauguration during activities marking President Bola Tinubu’s third anniversary in office in June.

The minister said the project formed part of a deliberate administration policy to extend infrastructure beyond Abuja’s city centre into satellite communities, in line with a direct directive from the president under the Renewed Hope Agenda.

“Remember that when we came on board, one of the directives of Mr President was that we should not concentrate development; we should not concentrate provision of infrastructure just only in the cities. We must open up all the satellite towns in order to discourage rural-urban migration”, Wike said.

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