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PDP Needs New, Robust NWC To Win 2023 Polls -Wike
The Rivers State Governor, Chief Nyesom Wike, says the present National Working Committee (NWC) of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), cannot lead the party to victory in the 2023 general election, hence the quest for its replacement.
The governor has maintained that the internal rumbling that was recently witnessed in the party was following the failure of the NWC to carry out its responsibility as an opposition political party effectively.
Speaking on a national television in Port Harcourt, yesterday, Wike stated that the PDP remains the only credible alternative party that Nigerians are expecting to take over power in 2023, given the woeful performance of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).
“If you go to the public and ask Nigerians if PDP is ready to take over power in 2023, if you take referendum, you will know that Nigerians are even waiting for PDP. But the fear of Nigerians is whether PDP is ready to take over power. So, people are concerned about it. Obviously, it is ripe for PDP to take over, but you must be prepared to take over.
“And we said with what we have now, it will be difficult to take over power in 2023 if there are no amendment. Leadership was the problem. The point is this, the current NWC, as it is today, cannot lead the party to victory. Nobody has said they have not done well, one way or the other, but we are talking about the challenges ahead.
“That is why we are pushing for the party to have other people to lead the party and to give it a different strength altogether. If you know APC, you know that you need a robust, determined leadership of the party (PDP) to make sure you match them word by word, action by action.”
Wike said anyone who loves the PDP and means well for the party will adhere to the resolutions reached after the intervention of the governors, Board of Trustees and elders to douse brewing crisis in the party.
The governor dismissed insinuation that he is nurturing a presidential ambition, hence his opposition to the current NWC.
He stated that his primary pre-occupation is to see how the PDP could be better positioned to win the 2023 general election.
On the issue of the amended Electoral Act, the governor said Nigerians are expecting President Muhammadu Buhari to veto the bill over the rejection of electronic transmission of election results by APC members in the National Assembly.
The governor accused Buhari of supporting the position of APC members in the National Assembly even after he had attested publicly on how he benefitted from the introduction of card reader device by former President Goodluck Jonathan’s administration.
He stressed that the electronic transmission of results is at the centre of conducting credible and transparent election, and it behoves the President to bequeath to Nigerians a credible electoral process as he had promised.
“Mr. President gave Nigerians the assurance that, one of the legacies that he will leave is to make sure that we have credible, and transparent election. And one of the steps to show transparency is, let the election results be transmitted electronically.
“You remember when Mr. President was declared the winner of that election in 2015, he said that the introduction of the card reader was a good innovation. We thought he would have improved on that. But instead of improving on that, we are going backwards.”
The governor also wondered why the Senate committee chairman on INEC, who recommended the transmission of electoral results electronically, voted against it.
Wike commended the passage of the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) into law, but declared that allocation of a meagre 3 per cent for host communities in the Niger Delta was unacceptable.
“We believe that 3 per cent is not enough as regards the kind of pollution and environmental crisis we have had because of oil exploitation. I thought what Mr. President would have done was to tell members of National Assembly, yes, you have done what you are supposed, but again, you need to take into consideration the yearnings of the host communities.”
The governor bemoaned the exclusion of oil producing state governments in the implementation and administration of the 3% oil revenue recommended for host communities in the Petroleum Industry Act.
He expressed concern that the International Oil Companies (IOCs) will take advantage of this, to continually instigate crisis in oil producing communities in order not to pay the 3 per cent due the host communities.
Speaking on the ongoing constitutional amendment process, Wike said it was satisfying to know that such function was not an exclusive preserve of the National Assembly.
According to him, Nigerians are very confident in the process because they know that whatever the National Assembly has done, there would be the need to secure a two-third of votes from the 36 State Assemblies.
“But the confidence people have today is that the amendment of the constitution will get to the State. Take for example, the Federal Government may not be in support of state police but you have two-third of states that say they need state police, so, in that case, state police will pass. There are issues that you may not like, but these are done on clause by clause basis.”
Speaking the issue of Valued Added Tax, Wike clarified that the Rivers State Government went to court to seek constitutional interpretation of the enabling law on whether state or Federal Government should be the sole collector of VAT.
He stressed that the Rivers State Government was not perturbed by the decision of the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) to appeal the Federal High Court judgment, which declared that it was unconstitutional for the Federal Government to collect VAT.
The Airbus A330-200 carrying the president took off at 2:20 pm local time, yesterday.
Tinubu was seen off at the airport by the Governors of Kwara, AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq; Borno, Babagana Zulum; Kaduna, Uba Sani; Sokoto, Ahmad Aliyu; Jigawa, Umar Namadi; and Yobe, Mai Mala Buni.
Also present were the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, George Akume; the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Lateef Fagbemi; and Nigeria’s Ambassador to Mexico, Reno Omokri, alongside other government officials.
Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, had revealed this in a statement signed Wednesday titled ‘President Tinubu departs Abuja for Makkah to pray for the nation.’
According to the statement, the visit will afford the President an opportunity for spiritual reflection, devotion, and prayers for Nigeria’s peace, unity, stability, and continued progress.
“While in Makkah, President Tinubu will perform the religious rites associated with Umrah, seeking Allah’s guidance and blessings for Nigeria and its people,” the statement said.
Before departing Abuja, Tinubu commissioned some equipment acquired by the Nigerian Air Force for its operations at the Presidential Wing of the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport.
The President is expected to return to the country next week after completing the spiritual exercise.
Thursday’s visit to Makkah marks the second time Tinubu is performing Umrah since assuming office.
The President had previously visited the holy city in November 2023, shortly after the Saudi-African Summit held in Riyadh, where he also prayed for divine guidance in leading Nigeria.
The trip to Saudi Arabia is the latest in a series of foreign engagements by the President since he was sworn in on May 29, 2023.
Tinubu has visited more than 30 countries in over 50 unique and recurrent trips.
They include countries across Africa, Europe, Asia, the Americas, and the Middle East, including France, the United Kingdom, the United States, China, India, Germany, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, South Africa, Kenya, Ghana, Ethiopia, Tanzania, Senegal, and several others, on a combination of bilateral, multilateral, and diplomatic assignments.
Meanwhile, Tinubu has unveiled PenCare, a national healthcare initiative designed to provide free medical services to pensioners, beginning with low-income retirees.
Tinubu, who was represented by the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Senator George Akume, at the opening of the National Pension Week in Abuja, yesterday, said the initiative formed part of his administration’s welfare package for senior citizens.
PenCare is designed as a national retiree well-being programme aimed at improving access to essential healthcare, particularly for pensioners with limited financial resources.
In his address, themed “Pensions for All: Building a Secure Future Together,” the President said a strong pension system was both a social protection necessity and a pillar of economic transformation under the Renewed Hope Agenda.
He said the pension system could also mobilise long-term domestic savings, deepen financial markets and support productive investments.
Tinubu described pensions as an obligation to workers who had served the country, rather than a favour from the government.
“A pension is not a favour granted by Government. It is a wage earned, deferred and held in trust. It is a promise. And this Administration has resolved that the promise will be kept,” he said.
He added that the success of the pension system should be measured by the security and dignity it provided retirees, rather than the volume of funds accumulated.
“Above all, no Nigerian who has served this nation will be forgotten in retirement. Nigeria will keep faith with those who kept faith with Nigeria,” he said.
The President said his administration had taken steps to restore dignity, security and value to the Contributory Pension Scheme.
He also said he had approved a N758 billion Federal Government Pension Bond to settle accrued pension rights and strengthen the Pension Protection Fund.
“That was not an accounting exercise. It was an act of restitution to Nigerians who served their country and were made to wait for what they had earned,” Tinubu said.
Meanwhile, the Director-General of the National Pension Commission (PenCom), Omolola Oloworaran, has insisted that the June 30, 2027 deadline for pension fund administrators and custodians to complete their recapitalisation remains unchanged.
Oloworaran said the exercise was necessary to strengthen institutions responsible for safeguarding the retirement savings of millions of Nigerian workers.
“We are not changing our minds. The industry must move beyond the growth in pension assets to building institutions strong enough to safeguard the savings of millions of Nigerian workers.
“Size is what we have achieved. Strength is what we now demand,” she said.
The Rivers State Government has called on stakeholders, community leaders, parents and relevant education authorities to intensify efforts to identify and enrol out-of-school children across Nigeria, stressing that every child deserves access to quality and inclusive education.
Governor Siminalayi Fubara made the call, yesterday, during the regional campaign on engaging community structures to promote the enrolment of out-of-school children and the regional flag-off of the 2026/2027 enrolment drive for southern states, held in Port Harcourt.
Represented by the Secretary to the State Government, Dr Dagogo Wokoma, Governor Fubara reaffirmed that education remains a fundamental pillar of sustainable development and emphasised the need to ensure that no child is left behind because of economic hardship, social background or other barriers to schooling.
He noted that expanding access to education was essential to promoting sustainable development, social inclusion and equal opportunities, enabling children to reach their full potential and contribute meaningfully to society.
The governor urged participating states and communities to translate their commitments into concrete and measurable actions by reaching vulnerable children, strengthening community engagement and encouraging parents and guardians to make their children’s education a priority.
He reiterated the state government’s commitment to initiatives aimed at expanding access to education, particularly for children excluded from formal schooling.
“Rivers State remains committed to supporting initiatives that expand access to inclusive and quality education, particularly for vulnerable children who may have missed the opportunity to attend formal schools,” Fubara stressed.
Also speaking, the Executive Secretary of the Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC), Aisha Garba, described the growing number of out-of-school children as one of the major challenges confronting the education sector.
She called for a collective and collaborative approach among governments, communities, parents and other stakeholders to address the problem, stressing the need to ensure that no Nigerian child is denied the fundamental right to education.
The programme was organised by the Universal Basic Education Commission in collaboration with the Rivers State Government, as part of efforts to strengthen community participation and promote school enrolment across the southern states for the 2026/2027 academic session.
The Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) has shared the sum of N2.428 trillion among the Federal Government, 36 states government and the 774 Local Government Councils (LGCs) as revenue for the month of September.
The Director, Press and Public Relations, Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation (OAGF), Mr Bawa Mokwa, said this in a statement in Abuja, yesterday.
Mokwa said the allocation was approved by FAAC at its October meeting held in Abuja.
He said the N2.428 trillion distributable revenue comprised of statutory revenue of N1.672 trillion, distributable Value Added Tax (VAT) revenue of N756.587 billion.
Mokwa quoted the FAAC communiqué as saying that total gross revenue of N3.913 trillion was available in the month of September 2026.
He said a total deduction for cost of collection was N131.758 billion while total transfers, refunds and savings of N1.352 trillion.
According to him, a gross statutory revenue of N3.096 trillion was received for the month of September 2026.
“This was higher than the sum of N2.850 trillion received in the preceeding month by N246.384 billion.
“Gross revenue of N816.872 billion was available from the Value Added Tax (VAT) in September 2026.
“This was lower than the N834.843 billion available in the month of August 2026 by N17.972 billion,” he said.
Mokwa explained that the Federal Government received N832.242 billion and the state governments received the sum of N799.872 billion.
He said the LGCs received N560.660 billion, while the sum of N236.049 billion (13% of mineral revenue) was shared to the benefiting state as derivation revenue.
Mokwa said in the N1.672 billion distributable statutory revenue, the Federal Government received N756.583 billion and the State Governments received N383.749 billion.
He said the LGCs received N295.855 billion and the sum of N236.049 billion (13% of mineral revenue) was shared to the benefiting States as derivation revenue.
The director said from the N756.587 billion distributable Value Added Tax (VAT) revenue, the Federal Government received N75.659 billion, the State Governments received N416.123 billion and the LGCs received N264.805 billion.
“In September 2026, Petroleum Profit Tax (PPT), Hydrocarbon Tax (HT), Petroleum Royalties, Import Duty, CET Levies and Excise Duty increased significantly.
“Also, Companies Income Tax (CIT), CGT & SDT, Value Added Tax (VTA), Mineral Royalties, and Gas Flared Penalty, Rental Gas Flared Fee and Misc. Oil Revenue decreased considerably,” he said.
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