Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, has given the lie to insinuations suggesting that he would contest against his boss, President Bola Tinubu, in the 2027 presidential election.
The former Rivers State governor vowed that having worked for the emergence of President Tinubu as the nation’s president, and having been made minister of the FCT, nothing would make him contest against his principal in 2027.
The minister who spoke on a live television programme in Abuja yesterday also said good character should never be compromised on the altar of politics.
Wike reiterated his commitment to the success of President Tinubu’s administration, even as he explained that the quest for justice was the key reason he and the G5 group of governors supported the presidential ambition of President Tinubu.
He stated: “President Tinubu made me the FCT minister and I won’t allow anybody to crumble our political structure. No! President Tinubu made me a minister; people do not understand. I have character.
“What will happen in 2027? I stood and I said I am not going to support injustice. I was threatened that they will do me this and that. They tried many options, including using Major Generals”.
On the update of his face-off with his successor, Governor Sim Fubara of Rivers State, the minister who initially said he did not want to talk about the matter said, “Give a man power and money, that is when you will know the person. If you have not given a man power and money do not say you know the person.
“He may be your friend; he may be your son, sister or mother or father. I don’t want to go into that”.
Wike expressed dismay that Fubara would seek to destroy the structure which produced him as governor just within three months of his emergence.
“In three months, it is sad for someone to scatter a political structure that supported and brought you up. You know what is painful? All these allegations, I smile. Who and who sat with him. In all your doings be grateful in your life no matter the circumstance. Nobody who is a gentleman and a politician will support this kind of thing.
Speaking during a media chat in Abuja on Friday, Wike said: “We never knew that it will take you three months to scatter the political structure that picked you up. What is painful is seeing these propaganda and lies that I was angry. Did he (Fubara) buy form? Be grateful in your life in all circumstances.
“I will not allow anybody to crumble our political structure. I told him if you do this ring-road your second tenure would be assured, I took him to Germany to meet Julius Berger and they promised to do the road in three years, which is the year leading to election. I told him if you do this road, nobody will challenge you in Rivers State.
“Anything that will make me disrespect Mr President, count me out. He disobeyed the President, disobeyed the Vice President. When the law speaks, thuggery, militancy and ethnicity will run away”.
Wike also outlined some of his achievements as governor of Rivers State, saying he was paying pensioners’ gratuity every month, something he said was not done by his predecessor.
“I took River State to the level where you cannot discuss politics in Nigeria without Rivers State. I was an ordinary minister when I became a governor. I challenged the sitting governor and I defeated his candidate. I worked hard”, he said.
Meanwhile, the minister said existing landowners with Certificate of Occupancy (C of O) in the FCT must re-certify them to incorporate the new features.
Wike said this would cost individuals N50,000 each and corporate bodies, N100,000 each.
Still speaking on a live television programme in Abuja, the minister noted that the new C-of-O would now require a National Identification Number (NIN) and Bank Verification Number (BVN)
He said he had been refraining from signing C-of-Os during his tenure as the FCT minister to introduce enhanced security measures, such as the inclusion of NIN for individuals and BVN for corporate bodies.
“There are a lot of discrepancies, a lot of cloning of C-of-Os. So, we have come up with an idea that every allottee who seeks and applies for a C-of-O must supply his NIN; this is one of the features we are going to put in the new C-of-O.
“If a corporate body doesn’t have an NIN and they have a property, they must put their BVN. So many persons have not registered, and this will make them go and re-register”, Wike stated.
On the existing landlords with C-of-Os, he noted that they would only be required to pay a nominal fee for recertification.
“For everyone who has a C-of-O, they will come for a recertification, so that we can incorporate the NIN or BVN. Those who had a C-of-O before do not need to pay money again; the highest they can pay is N50,000, and corporate bodies will pay N100,000. It helps in terms of security; it also helps to improve our revenue generation”, he said.
