A former governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), in Ogun State, Segun Sowunmi, has said he would have frozen the membership status of the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, if he was the party’s National Chairman.
Naija News reports that Sowunmi, during an interview with Nigeria Info FM, said he would have given Wike the same treatment universities give lecturers on sabbatical.
The PDP chieftain maintained it was wrong for Wike to serve as Minister in the All Progressive Congress (APC) administration, stressing that he would not have allowed it if he had been in the position of the party’s chairman.
Sowunmi further said he would have been very hard on Atiku, adding he cannot insist that Umar Damagun should remain in an acting capacity and his loyalists are calling the party dead.
He said, “If I were the National Chairman of PDP and Wike came to tell me that they have invited him to join the APC, I would have frozen his membership and treated him the way universities treat those that go on sabbatical.
“When you are on sabbatical, your membership is frozen, and when you return, it’s activated. By freezing his membership, that means you can’t be in charge of the party’s structure either in Rivers or anywhere. You can’t attend our meetings, and if you return, we are going to give you three months for debriefing so that you can dump all the jargon you learned from them.
“There is no way on earth I would have allowed him to serve in the APC and still sit as a member and an authority in the party. I would not have allowed that as Chairman because it would have been wrong.
“I’m not disrespectfully saying this, but that is the proper thing a futurist political party will do.
“If I were the National Chairman, right now I would have been very hard on Atiku by sending him a very clear message—call your dogs to order. You can’t insist that Damagum is in acting capacity and then the party is dead. I won’t allow that.”