Some leaders of the Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP) have reacted angrily to the daredevil claim by Minister Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, that nobody can discipline him nor contemplate his expulsion from the PDP.

Two elder statesmen, Chief Bode George and Chief Ada George, who reacted to Wike’s overdrive on Monday, said the former governor of Rivers State is overreaching in his subtle claim of ownership of the Peoples’ democratic Party.

Chief Bode George, a member of the PDP Board of Trustees, said Wike must be daydreaming, warning that if he (Wike) continues in the manner he is going, he will meet his waterloo.

George, who spoke to our reporter via telephone said: “Wike must be a dreamer. He doesn’t own this party and I can say it’s an infra dig (meaning: beneath my dignity) for me to be answering him, tell him when you see him that I said it’s an infra dig to respect him.

“The founding fathers handed over the party to us in 1999 to follow the details and the procedures as well as the governor of the party. I will not waste my breath talking to him as a father. All this crap he is talking about, history will judge him.

Chief George, who denounced Wike’s frequent claim to sponsorship of governors, reminded him that people have done more for the party without bragging about their contributions.

“On the issue of commitment, I was the one that produced five governors for the South West. Five governors back in 2003 elections, he can go and check it, and it changed the face of the South West.

“For all these other trashes that he is saying, time will tell in his character. (I can write him a letter) he thinks he’s smarter. I have an adage in my language, a small boy that went to the toilet to look at the buttocks of an old man, my advice is that those who are closest to him; his family, wife etc. should correct him and advise him. The FCT minister Chief George warns has held the PDP on the jugular for too long.

“He can go and ask Olusegun Mimiko who produced him? Fayose too, who produced him? Oyinlola, Oladoja and many others; let him go and find out the work we did to produce those people. I don’t need to be telling him. Am I not a PDP man and if he wants to go, if he says nobody can deal with him (if it is not an individual who can’t deal with him), there is a process and a procedure for him; if he continues, he will be very sorry. He slouched a lot of his values, he will see.

“In the 2003 elections, let him go and find out who was the vice chairman, who was the leader in Lagos, because the whole South West governors in Ondo, Ekiti, Osun, Oyo and Ogun can one-man contest, including Lagos in governorship?

“What does that mean? Did he expect me to support Bola Tinubu? I don’t have time for all that crap.”

Also, the former Governor of Rivers State, Chief Ada George, believes Wike is pushing too hard in the affairs of men, accusing him of orchestrating the ongoing political crisis in Rivers state, including the imposition of a state of emergency and the controversial appointment of sole administrators in all 23 local government areas.

Ada George, who served as governor of Rivers State from 1992 to 1993 and currently chairman, Rivers Elders and Leaders Forum, made the claims during a media briefing following the latest political developments in the state and Wike’s Media Briefing on Monday in Abuja.

He said, “The FCT Minister is the architect of all these things,” accusing him of fanning the flames of instability after failing to impose his political agenda on the state’s leadership.

“He could set ablaze states where the governors did not share his views,” he said. “And that is exactly what I think he is trying to do in Rivers State. Enough is enough. We will not allow him to set Rivers State ablaze anymore.”

The elder statesman said the minister was in the state days before the appointments were announced.

“He was reported to have been here on the 7th, Monday evening, traversing the whole place, visiting the military administrator. Then following that, this announcement came through.”

He strongly condemned the appointments, describing them as unconstitutional and an assault on democratic governance.

“The appointment of sole administrators is unconstitutional,” he said. “There are laid down legal processes for constituting local government leadership. This action undermines those principles.”

While insisting that the forum will continue to seek peaceful solutions, Ada George warned that Rivers people would not fold their arms in the face of provocation.

“We cannot go physical… but we will resist in any form, any attempt to disrupt or disorganized this state.”

Despite the tension, the forum expressed hope that the FCT Minister would work with stakeholders to calm tensions and restore dialogue. “We hoped he would consult with stakeholders for peacebuilding, to calm tensions, and to resolve the issues between the two parties—not escalate them,” he said.

Quoting Nigeria’s first president, Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe, Ada George appealed for calm: “Surulere, Surulere”—*be patient, be silent. “And I am going to borrow the words of Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe to say Surulere, Surulere to all those who are involved in these activities.”

He also revealed that the Rivers Elders Forum had written to both Governor Siminalayi Fubara and former Governor Nyesom Wike at the onset of the crisis, but received no response.

“We did communicate in writing to both the warring parties… but unfortunately, we didn’t have the courtesy of receiving a reply from any of them.”

The forum said it remains committed to lawful resolution.

“We will go to court where necessary. We have cases in court at the moment, and we will continue,” Ada George affirmed.

Meanwhile, the Federal Capital Territory Minister, Nyesom Wike, had earlier on Monday boasted that nobody can remove or expel him from the Peoples’ Democratic Party.

Speaking at a media parley in Abuja, during which he said, “I am still in the PDP. I worked hard for the party.

“I have not seen anybody who will have the guts to tell me, ‘Wike, you are not a member of the party.’ Who is that? What is his contribution to the party that is more than me?”

Wike’s remarks come on the heels of growing tensions in the PDP over his role in the current administration and his perceived political positioning.

Wike asserted that he is loyal to the PDP, and he won’t be pushed out easily.

On the ground rent enforcement in the FCT, Wike said he derives joy from stepping on the toes of big people in the country.

He made this statement against the backlash from a section of the elite regarding his enforcement of rules regarding ground rent payments. during a press briefing in Abuja.

Wike told the Nigerian elite to visit other countries and see how modern societies are run, adding that some of them come back to Nigeria and refuse to follow simple laws.

He said the era of impunity when a section of the elite felt they could trample on laws and nothing would happen was over, declaring that “something will happen.”