‘He ran away when crisis came’ — Wike mocks Obi for dumping LP

2026-03-30 - 08:23

Federal Capital Territory Minister Nyesom Wike has mocked former Labour Party presidential candidate Peter Obi, saying he lacks the leadership courage to manage internal party crises. Wike made the remarks on Sunday while addressing delegates at the Peoples Democratic Party 2026 National Convention held at the Moshood Abiola National Stadium, Abuja, using Obi’s departure from the Labour Party as a parallel to criticise PDP governors who recently defected to the ruling All Progressives Congress. “Leadership is not an easy task. Leadership requires courage. Leadership requires firmness. Leadership requires commitment,” he said. Drawing a direct comparison between the defecting PDP governors and Obi, Wike said both groups had demonstrated a fundamental absence of the qualities required to lead. “What you see that has happened, the faction of some governors who have left have only shown you they lack the leadership traits. I liken them to the former presidential candidate of the Labour Party,” he said. The minister then zeroed in on Obi specifically, arguing that the Labour Party had given him a platform to pursue his presidential ambition and that he abandoned it at the first sign of adversity. “The presidential candidate of the Labour Party before wanted to be president. And they gave him a platform. And that platform was the Labour Party. When crisis came in the Labour Party, it was time it was required for him to show leadership. He ran away because he could not solve problems,” Wike said. “The same thing, when our governors were looking for a platform to be governor, they became governors. When crisis came, for them to show leadership, for them to show men of vision and courage, they ran away. This is to tell you those who can stand when there are crises,” he added. Obi, who finished third in the 2023 presidential election behind President Bola Tinubu and former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, defected to the African Democratic Congress in 2025. He has since become a key figure in a growing opposition coalition on the ADC platform that also includes Atiku, former Kaduna Governor Nasir El-Rufai, and ex-Rivers Governor Rotimi Amaechi, all of whom are positioning to challenge Tinubu in the 2027 general elections.