The political camaraderie between some bigwigs in the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) and Nyesom Wike, minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), may be heading for the rocks.
Although the FCT minister is promoting the work of the government, in the eyes of the governors, he appears to have crossed the red line. He is not only getting too powerful; he is seen to be eating their lunch. Chai!
Wike and APC’s ‘indigenisation’ factor
It seems that time has come for everybody to answer his father’s name. Those who left their original father and have been comfortably calling another man ‘Papa’, are perhaps being fiercely told to go for a possible Deoxyribonucleic Acid (DNA) test to ascertain their true paternity.
It appears that some of those who hide in the mixed multitude that chant ‘Na our papa bi this o, we don’t have another one’ are now being advised to go find their true papa.
The political popularizers of ‘Enye ndi ebaa, enye ndi ebaa’ music are now being told in an unmistakable term that the time of that acrobatic dance may be over.
The spat between the governors of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) and the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, seems to revolve around ego and pure bad blood.
Both groups have gone public with invectives, and what seems to be the question on the lips of many watchers is, ‘is the house dividing against itself?’
But from what the governors are saying, it would seem that they have never ever recognised Wike as a member of the house. They were just allowing the minister to humour himself all along?
What is playing out reminded Yours Sincerely of a singsong in my village in Abia State in those days that no matter what a male concubine does for the children of his female friend, the woman’s children will never call him father. Even if he kills himself for them!
The FCT minister has done a lot for the APC government. He has even put his life on line to promote the administration of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu. Yet, he is being seen as an outcast, as it were.
The minister has left no one in doubt of his mission in the APC. He has repeatedly said that he was not in President Tinubu’s cabinet to become a party member, but to fulfil the promise he made to him that he would work for his re-election.
Wike has used his influence to cow many of the opposition members. His large-heartedness, especially to the members of the bench, has won the hearts of those in that profession for the current administration.
Recently, he recovered the FCT from the grip of the opposition. His brash nature has been an asset for the ruling APC. But it would seem that the chickens have come home to roost.
It is not a secret how Wike, through the G-5 group he founded in the run-up to the 2023 general election, openly worked against the then presidential candidate of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) over the internal crisis that arose from the party’s primaries in 2022.
Wike had, unapologetically worked in favour of the then APC candidate, Bola Tinubu, and delivered Rivers State to the Jagaban.
He also swore to completely make the PDP unviable for any national election going forward. Although he has remained in the PDP, the soul of the party has since left, remaining mere carcass.
For his great exploits in Rivers in 2023, and perhaps, in the expectation for a repeat feat in 2027, he was rewarded with one of the juiciest ministerial portfolios.
Over time, he has made that office an envy of every politician. He carries himself with the air of importance and opulence tantamount to the luxury that surrounds Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, the ruler of Dubai and prime minister of the United Arab Emirate (UAE), whose personal net worth is estimated between $14 billion and $18 billion.
Wike, a total stranger in the APC family, has become so influential in the party that he commands high respect in and outside the Presidential Villa. He routinely engages in past times that no other minister or even governors dare to.
For instance, not long ago, his penchant for cruising around Abuja in a high-end 2024 Rolls-Royce Ghost with a 2024 Bentley Flying Spur as his escort vehicle, left many bigwigs in the APC tongue-tied. They froze in a mixture of utter amazement and raw anger.
Whereas President Tinubu does not believe in monthly media chat, Wike shadows him with an outlandish razzmatazz.
As a minister, there seems to be no-go-areas for him. In recent times, he mounted a month-long project commissioning ceremony. He is unarguably the President’s man Friday.
The manner he has chosen to go about his work and the air of importance around him may have made the original ‘?m? APC’ green with envy. Hence, the ongoing slanging match.
While he is reigning supreme in the APC, where he was invited to ‘come and chop’ (apologies to the late Sunday Afolabi, a former minister of Internal Affairs in the Olusegun Obasanjo administration, who said that he, and Bola Ige, were invited to the PDP government to ‘come and chop’), Wike has refused to dump the PDP. Observers said that he may be using the highly factionalised umbrella association as a bargaining chip in 2027.