The Arewa Youth for Peaceful Coexistence has dismissed as false and mischievous reports that the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, is lobbying to become the Director-General of the All Progressives Congress (APC) Presidential Campaign Council.
The group, through its National Chairman, Haruna Bature, described the report as a calculated attempt to tarnish Wike’s political image and create unnecessary tension within the country’s political space.
Bature said the claim had no basis in reality, stressing that Wike had neither lobbied nor expressed interest in becoming the APC presidential campaign DG.
According to him, Wike remains committed to the success of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and is focused on delivering on his responsibilities as FCT Minister, as well as contributing to the President’s political success in Rivers State and the FCT.
He said Wike, who is currently holidaying in Spain, had just concluded about 30 days of commissioning projects across the country, arguing that his recent activities were evidence of his focus on governance rather than lobbying for political appointments.
‘Wike never lobbied,’ Bature declared, adding that the minister had dismissed the report as a total lie and urged Nigerians to disregard the allegation.
The Arewa youth leader accused unnamed political actors of deploying what he described as ‘hypocrisy, duplicity and fabricated lies’ against Wike in an attempt to score cheap political points and cause friction between the APC and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
He said the alleged campaign was part of a broader attempt to distract Wike from his duties and obstruct the minister from carrying out what he described as his good work in the nation’s capital.
Bature argued that Wike’s political influence in Rivers State and his record in infrastructure development had made him a target of political attacks, insisting that his achievements should be judged on their merits rather than through unsubstantiated reports.
‘Falsehood may fly on the wings of the wind and spread to every corner of the earth, but truth, though slow and solemn, will always catch up with it,’ he said.
The group described Wike as a major political force in Rivers State and an ‘irreplaceable asset’ in leadership, particularly in view of his role in the ongoing transformation of the Federal Capital Territory.
Bature said the Arewa Youth for Peaceful Coexistence remained proud of Wike’s achievements and urged him to remain focused on delivering projects and supporting national development, while calling on Nigerians to reject political propaganda capable of deepening divisions in the country.