The Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, has maintained that he is still a member of the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

Wike, the immediate past governor of oil-rich Rivers state, made the statement during a media parley with selected journalists in Abuja on Friday.

His words: “I am a member of the PDP. ”Have you ever seen me change anything?

“The one I supported before, what happened? I have decided to take a break. As you see me now, everybody should carry their cross.

“I was in PDP, and I did not hide it: ’ told them I was not going to support their presidential candidate. Is it that I spoke or acted in a way people did not understand?”

Responding to a question on if he is not worried about being disciplined by the party, Wike said:

“Discipline me for what? That I did what? I am an advocate of the party’s constitution. Assuming we lost the governorship, will they be talking about Rivers as a PDP state?

“Now is the time for governance. Now is the time” to do your assignment “nt. The president has given me an assignment and I am busy carrying out my assignment.

“When the time for politics comes, we will know who is where and who is not where.”

Recall that Wike fell out with the PDP hierarchy in the run-up to the 2023 presidential election.

He had insisted the party maintain its internal power-sharing formula by zoning the presidential ticket to southern Nigeria.

While he backed out from supporting Atiku Abubakar – from northern Nigeria – who won the PDP primary election, the former governor worked for the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), leading to the emergence of President Bola Tinubu.

Tinubu later appointed him as a minister, a move that triggered debates on whether Wike was still a member of the PDP.