The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) board of trustees (BoT) has urged Nyesom Wike, minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Minister, to continue to be steadfast and focused, adding that the party and its members are proud of him.
The PDP BoT members, spoke when they visited Wike at his official residence in Abuja on Tuesday evening, to condole with him over the death of Dan Orbih, the party’s national vice chairman (south-south).
They described Orbih’s death as shocking and painful to the party, particularly members of the BoT.
The BoT delegation led by Mao Ohuabunwa, its chairman, also had Zainab Kure, Damishi Sango, former minister of aports, and Isah Dansidi, the BoT secretary, among others.
“These are select few members of the Board of Trustees of the People’s Democratic Party of Nigeria,” the BoT chairman told journalists after the visit.
“You know that the BoT has over 100 members, but because of the shortness of the time, we had to pick those that are within the FCT vicinity. And in this selection, we made sure that all the geopolitical zones are represented.
“We came here purely for two major reasons. To condole with and console our National Leader, Barrister Nyesom Wike, on the demise of one of our great members, a pillar of the party, a consistent member of the party, Chief Dan Orbih, who was also a member of the board of trustees and the national vice chairman (south-south) of our party.
“The news of his demise was shocking and painful to us. He was not only a committed party member, he was a very close associate of our national leader.
“And like one of us, Chief Sango said earlier, when he was praying, Chief Dan Orbih was one of our political generals and close associates of our national leader, the honourable minister.
“So, we’ve come to condole with him and console him, and he has accepted to take our message to the Orbih family.
“Also, we are here to solidarise with him, encourage him and tell him to remain focused. Because everything he’s been saying about the party is nothing but the truth.
“When he was offered this appointment, he wrote the party at all levels and the party unanimously accepted and asked him to go and represent the party.
“And we want to boldly say that as a party and as the conscience of the party and also the compass of this party, we are very very proud of him. Proud of him as a person, proud of him in performance, proud of his capacity.”
Earlier, the FCT minister had thanked the PDP BoT members for the visit, reiterating his assurance that he would remain in the party and work with others to rebuild it.
He described Orbih’s death as a lost too irreparable, disclosing that the deceased played a very important role in his emergence as Governor of Rivers State in 2015.
“God used Dan Orbih to make me a governor. He was the Chairman of PDP in Edo State at that time and there was a crisis in Rivers State PDP,” Wike said.
“He chose to stand by the truth and that’s how I became governor. It’s unfortunate that he died and there is nothing any of us can do about it.
“Therefore, I thank you all for coming to identify with me. Most importantly, the loss is also your loss because he was part of you.”
On the 2027 elections, the FCT minister reiterated his commitment to President Bola Tinubu’s re-election, urging the members and supporters of the PDP to focus more attention on other elections.
“After supporting President Tinubu in 2023, it will be wrong of me to support another person to face him when he is seeking re-election, and I have made this clear before now.
“But that should not prevent the PDP from contesting elections at the subnational levels.”
