A chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Umar Sani, has dismissed alleged intimidation tactics by the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, amid the ongoing leadership crisis rocking the party.

He accused Wike of using his position as FCT minister to fight political opponents within the party, describing the alleged moves as “the last kick of a dying horse.”

Speaking during the Arise Television’s Morning Show on Thursday, Sani accused Wike of repeatedly using government instruments to frustrate meetings held by rival factions within the PDP.

He insisted that members of his PDP group were not disturbed by the development, maintaining that they remained the legitimate leadership of the party.

Sani further stated that his group was awaiting the Certified True Copy, CTC, of the recent Supreme Court judgment, which he said would determine the next phase of the leadership battle within the PDP.

According to him, Wike was aware of locations where meetings of the party had been taking place but had failed to shut them down.

The PDP chieftain alleged that similar tactics were previously employed during the tenure of acting National Chairman, Umar Damagum, whenever meetings perceived to be unfavourable to Wike’s camp were scheduled.

He said: “He (Wike) knows where we have been holding meetings. He knows the place, and he has not seen it off yet. He can’t.

“It is a matter of time. Nevertheless, what he has said is merely an intimidation tactics using his…

“This is not new to us. Even when Damagun was the chairman, anytime we are going to hold a meeting that he is not satisfied, that the outcome of that meeting may not favor him, he will go and seal the National Secretariat and say, we have not paid ground rent. We have not paid tenement rate, we have not done this.

“Well, these were all tactics that he has been using. He will go and seal our annex office, which is the legacy house. So it is his own style to do that.

“We are not bothered. He knows we have been holding meetings. He knows we have been holding NEC meetings. So he can’t do nothing.

“What he’s just trying is the last kick of a dying horse because he knows we are now the legitimate people.

“We are just waiting for CTC of the Supreme Court judgment for them to pack their bags and baggage and leave Wadata Plaza to his office. That’s why he’s now trying to fight us using the instrument as the FCT minister.”

North Korea’s UN envoy said his country was not bound by the Non-Proliferation Treaty on nuclear weapons and external pressure would not change its status as a nuclear-armed state, official media reported Thursday.

Pyongyang threatened to withdraw from the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT ) in 1993 and formally did so in 2003.

It has since conducted six nuclear tests — prompting a raft of international sanctions — and is believed to possess dozens of nuclear warheads.

Signatories of the NPT have been holding a review meeting of the landmark pact at the United Nations.

There, “the United States and certain countries following its lead are groundlessly calling into question the current status and exercise of sovereign rights” of North Korea, Pyongyang’s top UN envoy Kim Song said in a statement carried by the official Korean Central News Agency.

“The status of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea as a nuclear-armed state will not change based on external rhetorical claims or unilateral desires,” he added, using North Korea’s official name.

“To make it clear once again, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea will not be bound by the Non-Proliferation Treaty under any circumstances whatsoever.”

He continued that the country’s status as a nuclear-armed state has been “enshrined in the constitution, transparently declaring the principles of nuclear weapons use”.

North Korea has insisted that it will not give up its nuclear arsenal, describing its path as “irreversible” and vowing to strengthen its capabilities.

The NPT, which went into force in 1970 and is signed by almost all countries on the planet — with notable exceptions including North Korea, Israel, India and Pakistan — aims to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons, promote complete disarmament and encourage cooperation on civilian nuclear projects.

But the spirit of the treaty has been “eroding”, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said in his opening remarks at the review session last week.

“Commitments remain unfulfilled. Trust and credibility are wearing thin. The drivers of proliferation are accelerating,” he said.

The nine nuclear-armed states — Russia, the United States, France, the United Kingdom, China, India, Pakistan, Israel and North Korea — possessed 12,241 nuclear warheads in January 2025, the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) reported.

The US and Russia hold nearly 90 percent of nuclear weapons globally and have carried out major programmes to modernise them in recent years, according to SIPRI.

Pyongyang has sent ground troops and artillery shells to support Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and observers say Pyongyang is receiving military, economic and technical assistance from Moscow in return.