The Minister of the Federal Capital Territory FCT, Nyesom Wike, has said the presidential candidate of the Nigeria Democratic Congress NDC, Mr Peter Obi, prefers “anywhere food is ready politics”.
Wike spoke on Tuesday when he met youth stakeholders in the FCT to campaign for the re-election of President Bola Tinubu in the January presidential election.
“Obi is not going anywhere. Don’t deceive yourself. If he likes, let him enter the motorcycle and carry everybody at the back; he is not going anywhere,” the minister said.
He mocked Obi’s visits to camps for internally displaced persons (IDPs). ” He goes to IDP camp to do birthdays. When he was governor, did he do that? No. Very soon, they will start going along the trees, buying and chewing corn.
“He prefers anywhere Mama Put is ready for politics. He doesn’t want to struggle. Small fight, he ran away from the PDP. He did the same in the Labour Party, and now he is in NDC. But, as for me, I am not afraid of fighting. They have now run away from the PDP, and I am still in the party,” he said.
The minister also dismissed the chances of former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, the African Democratic Congress ADC presidential candidate. “Atiku won’t get 25 per cent in South South, South East and South West. Where will he get it?” he asked.
He urged the youths to do more than vote for Tinubu. “Please, I beg of you, not to just come out to vote, not to just endorse this president here, mobilise all your colleagues, even those who are not part of your association, reach out to them, and get everybody to come out.
“I am not a member of the All Progressives Congress. You don’t need to be an APC member or a Peoples Democratic Party PDP member for you to contribute to the development of your country. All you need to do is to work according to the vision of the person who has appointed you. Let’s not put our destiny in the hands of political gamblers who have been gambling for over 22 years,” he said.
Wike reminded the youths of the record of earlier administrations on their welfare and that of women in the FCT. “Atiku Abubakar was vice president from 1999 to 2007. Is it not correct? Correct. Was there any establishment of a youth secretariat? No. Was there any establishment of a women’s secretariat? No. From 1976 to 2023, nobody cared,” he added.
He said Tinubu changed that within a year of taking office. “Go and make sure there is a youth secretary. Go and make sure there’s a woman secretary,” he quoted the president as directing.
He urged the youths to ignore showmanship. “Leave all these rhetorics; leave all this drama. These are cosmetic. Let us face the reality on the ground. That is what matters,” he said.
