Former Rivers State governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Tonye Cole, has urged the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, to end what he described as political “hide-and-seek” and publicly declare his true party affiliation.

Speaking on Channels Television’s Politics Today on Friday, Cole said Wike’s insistence on remaining a member of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) while serving in President Bola Tinubu’s APC-led administration was “confusing and dangerous for democracy.”

“Is he APC or is he PDP? As far as we know today, he is PDP,” Cole said. “We cannot continue confusing the electorate in Rivers State and confusing Nigerians because it is dangerous for democracy; that you are in one party and you are controlling another party.”

Wike, who governed Rivers State for eight years under the PDP, has been a central figure in the party’s prolonged crisis since the 2023 general elections. Although he was appointed FCT Minister by President Tinubu, he has repeatedly maintained that he remains a PDP member — a position Cole described as untenable.

According to Cole, Wike’s refusal to formally cross over to the APC has fueled instability in Rivers politics and weakened the integrity of Nigeria’s multi-party system.

“The only person who is left to make a declaration as to where he stands in all of this is the minister, Nyesom Wike,” Cole said. “Where I would implore him to act honourably is to come and join the APC. Leave the PDP, come and join the APC so that we all know now that we are standing in one bloc — no division, no confusion, nothing.”

He stressed that democracy could only thrive if political parties were allowed to stand independently without one individual straddling two opposing camps.

“Allow PDP to be, allow ADC to be, allow Labour Party to be, allow YPP to be. That’s what democracy is about,” Cole added.

Wike’s ambiguous political stance has further complicated the succession battle in Rivers State, where his loyalists and supporters of Governor Siminalayi Fubara remain locked in a fierce struggle for dominance.