Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Mr Nyesom Wike, a member of the opposition People’s Democratic Party (PDP), has disclosed he will be the one to lead the All Progressives Congress (APC) campaign in Rivers State for the second term election of President Bola Tinubu in 2027.
TheNewsGuru.com (TNG) reports Mr Wike, a former Governor of Rivers State, made this disclosure while speaking with newsmen in Abuja on Monday when he boasted that he is an asset to make sure that Tinubu wins his second term election.
When asked about his future in the PDP, he queried, “I have told you this thing. Is it because of Asiwaju presidency? Is it what you are talking about? Are you not aware that I will lead the campaign in Rivers State?”
“You want me to say no. Are you not aware? It is not hidden. Because I have said the South must produce the president. I came out and said I will support Asiwaju. I did not say I will leave PDP”.
Wike went further to say: “The way we won the other election, that is how we will win. I am not a liability. I am an asset. Whether you agree or you do not, I am an asset. You may not like me, but that does not matter. I am an asset. I am an asset to making sure that Tinubu wins his second tenure”.
Wike lashes out at Bode George, queries him who PDP has made in Lagos
Speaking further during the media chat, Wike lashed out at a chieftain of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), Chief Bode George, who had expressed sadness over the sealing of the party’s national secretariat by the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA).
Last on Monday, the FCTA, led by Minister Nyesom Wike, sealed off the PDP national secretariat in Abuja over an alleged failure to pay ground rent.
The PDP headquarters was shut as part of the enforcement efforts of the FCTA, which recently cancelled 4,794 land titles in Wuse, Maitama, Asokoro, and Garki over “years of unpaid ground rents”.
Speaking in an interview on Channels Television, George lamented that Wike, who authorized the enforcement action, is a member of the PDP who should have paid the debt to show his loyalty to the party.
The PDP BoT member said Wike had occupied several political positions on the platform of the PDP since 1999.
Reacting, Wike said: “I read what he said. If an old man has no job, he should sit down in his house and read his newspapers.
“Bode George said PDP made me. PDP gave me national name. I agree. Party cannot make you. You are the one to make the party popular to win elections.
“A party cannot say we are popular. It is individuals who make the party popular. Look at it this way. I agree the PDP made me. Ask Bode George. Who did the PDP made in Lagos.
“If it is the party that makes, who has the party made in Lagos since 1999? Not one assembly. Not one House of Reps. Not Senate. Not Anything.
“And then you are talking to me who has campaigned and worked for the party to be the major party in the State and at the national level. Meanwhile, in your own State that party has never won anything”.
The former Rivers State Governor stressed that past FCT Ministers lacked the courage to compel political bigwigs who own structures in the nation’s capital to pay their annual ground rent. He insisted that the PDP must pay the ground rent for its secretariat in Abuja.
“Look at what we are doing differently. People have said that FCT was not working (but) now it is working which means I’m doing things that they (past FCT ministers) refused to do.
“I found out that most of them didn’t have the courage to annoy people, to step on toes but I take joy when I step on the toes of big men; those who say nothing will happen but I say something will happen. It makes me happy.
“All they want me to do is to make decisions against poor people saying nothing will happen to them but I say something will happen. That is why we making results. If you don’t do the right thing, too bad. I don’t care.”