Abuja, Nigeria — The Minister of the Federal Capital Territory of Nigeria, Nyesom Wike, has criticised former presidential candidate Peter Obi, accusing him of lacking the courage required to manage political party disputes.
Wike spoke on Sunday, March 29, 2026, while addressing delegates at the 2026 national convention of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), held at the Moshood Abiola National Stadium in Abuja, the capital of Nigeria. During his speech, he compared Obi’s departure from the Labour Party to the actions of some PDP governors who recently defected to the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).
“Leadership is not an easy task. Leadership requires courage. Leadership requires firmness. Leadership requires commitment,” Wike said.
Okay News reports that Wike argued that both the defecting governors and Obi failed to demonstrate resilience when confronted with internal challenges.
“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 maintained that Obi benefited from the Labour Party’s platform during his presidential bid but left when the party encountered difficulties.
“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.
He extended the criticism to governors who switched parties.
“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 placed third in Nigeria’s 2023 presidential election behind President Bola Tinubu and former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, left the Labour Party in 2025 to join the African Democratic Congress (ADC).
Since then, he has emerged as a leading figure in an opposition coalition within the ADC, alongside Atiku, former Kaduna State governor Nasir El-Rufai, and former Rivers State governor Rotimi Amaechi. The group is positioning itself ahead of Nigeria’s 2027 general elections.
The comments highlight continuing tensions within opposition politics in Nigeria as political alignments begin to shift ahead of the next national vote.
