Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, has fired a sharp political jab at former Senate President David Mark, ridiculing his diminishing influence within the People’s Democratic Party (PDP).
The pointed remark was delivered as Wike addressed the ongoing crisis within the PDP and the defection of several prominent party figures to a new opposition coalition. He used Mark’s political decline as a symbol of the hypocrisy and loss of grassroots relevance among some of the party’s old guard now criticizing the current administration.
Speaking during a heated interview on ESET Television, on Thursday, July 3, 2025, Wike referenced Mark’s failure to win a local election despite his daughter’s success on the platform of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC):
He noted “His daughter won under APC, while he lost the chairmanship under PDP. What a man!”
David Mark, who served as Senate President from 2007 to 2015 and was once regarded as a PDP heavyweight, has kept a relatively low political profile in recent years. The loss referenced by Wike reportedly took place during the 2023 elections, when Mark failed to secure a chairmanship seat for the PDP in his home constituency, while his daughter reportedly clinched a legislative victory under APC.
Wike’s scathing comments come amid rising tensions within the PDP, with several leaders defecting to join or form coalitions ahead of the 2027 general elections. But the FCT Minister maintains that many of these political moves are rooted in personal bitterness, not public interest.
The remark targeting David Mark has sparked widespread reaction online, with some calling it a brutal truth and others accusing Wike of stoking further division within an already fractured opposition. Nonetheless, it underlines the increasingly personal tone of Nigeria’s political realignments ahead of 2027.