The Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Mr Nyesom Wike has urged Nigerians to be patient with the government of President Bola Tinubu, saying that the administration’s economic reforms would soon yield positive results.
Speaking as a guest on Channel Television’s Politics Today on Friday, Wike, a former governor of Rivers State, stressed that many of the politicians that are forming coalition under the African Democratic Congress (ADC) are those that have led Nigerians in some capacities in the past, but have nothing to show for their leadership.
On whether he was introduced into politics by his predecessor in office, former governor Rotimi Amaechi, Wike said that the former was brought to him when he was the Chairman of Obio Akpor Local Government in Rivers State in 1998, adding that he couldn’t have been the one that influenced him into politics.
“Tinubu’s administration means well for Nigeria. There was no way I could have worked with a government that does not love the people. Most of the economic challenges in the country were caused by past administrations and even by many of those that are forming coalition under the ADC now.
“Though the policies of the current administration could be hard, they will soon yield positive results. Some of the people criticizing the government of President Tinubu today started 18 months ago, when the government was barely six months in office. What did they want him to achieve within that period,” he said.
Commenting on Amaechi, he said that the fact that he became governor before him did not mean that he is senior and that he did not do anything to assist him politically.
“What did he do for me; he didn’t even recommend me to be Minister under former president Goodluck Jonathan. People like Amaechi had opportunities to serve, but they did not achieve anything, while in office. He was speaker of the Rivers State House of Assembly for eight years, he was governor for eight years and a senior minister for eight years, but he has nothing to show for it.
“Nigerians should not be deceived, those who are saying that people are angry now, were in political offices in the past and they could not do anything to help the people,” he said.
Reacting to the allegation that the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) is in carcass and that people are leaving the party because of him, Wike said that this could not be true as some of them left the PDP to form the All Progressives Congress (APC) with other in 2014, when he had not even emerged as a governor, saying that they are being driven by selfish ambition.
Wike, who insisted that the problem with the PDP started, when the party reneged on the agreement that a southerner should emerge as the party’s presidential candidate in 2023, stated that he would not disclose if he would support the candidate of the party in 2027 against President Tinubu in 2027 even if the person is a southerner.
The FCT Minister said further that peace has since returned to Rivers State as he has resolved his issues with Governor Siminalayi Fubara of the state, but declined to expatiate on the agreement reached at the peace meeting with President Tinubu along with the governor and other stakeholders.
