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

Wike, who stated his position, revealed that he was not bothered by threats of expulsion from some chieftains of the party and that when the electioneering period comes, his stand with the party will be much clearer.

The former Rivers State Governor had had issues with the PDP hierarchy in the run-up to the 2023 presidential election.

Wike insisted the party maintains its internal power-sharing formula by zoning the presidential ticket to southern Nigeria.

Wike eventually did not support Atiku Abubakar – from northern Nigeria – who won the PDP primary election, and later worked for the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), leading to the emergence of President Bola Tinubu.

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

Despite the calls for his expulsion, the FCT minister says he is still a member of the PDP, doubling down on his support for Tinubu – the APC flag bearer for the 2023 election.

“I am a member of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP),” he said on Thursday while speaking with newsmen in Abuja.

He continued: “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: I 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?”

He explained that his non-support of the party in the 2023 presidential election was the right step and thus moves for his suspension were uncalled for.

“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. The president has given me an assignment and I am busy carrying out my assignment,” the former governor said. “When the time for politics comes, we would know who is where and who is not where.”