The Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, has promised to give every councillor in the nation’s capital N10 million if they deliver their wards for President Bola Tinubu in the 2027 general elections.
According to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), Wike spoke at a rainbow coalition stakeholders’ meeting attended by traditional rulers, political stakeholders and residents in the Kwali area council on Monday.
“Any councillor that delivers his ward will get N10 million reward. Therefore, go and meet your leaders, go and meet your youth groups, go and consult with associations. Let’s deliver our ward to Mr President,” the minister said.
Wike also endorsed Philip Aduda for the FCT senate seat and Danladi Chiya for the Abuja south federal constituency.
“I don’t need to preach to you any longer. The one you are seeing is what you follow, not the one that will give you unfulfilled promises. I will go to sleep tonight because I know Kwali, Gwagwalada, and Abaji are 100 per cent for APC,” he said.
The minister also condemned opposition politicians over their reactions to Thursday’s federal high court judgement, which sacked the David Mark-led leadership of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) and nullified the party’s decision, including Atiku Abubakar’s nomination as its presidential candidate.
He accused opposition parties and political figures of double standards and hypocrisy in their responses to court rulings.
“When ADC had a matter in court and won at the supreme court, they said, ‘The court is the last hope. The court has saved democracy, and we know our judiciary will not fail us,”’ he said.
“But when they lost a court case, it became: ‘The president is using the court to fight the opposition.’ When it is good for you, the judiciary is clear. When it is bad, you claim they are using it to destroy democracy. What kind of system are we operating?”
He said no administration had done more for the FCT than Tinubu’s government, adding that it had undertaken infrastructure projects across the satellite towns, including the construction of more than 270 kilometres of roads, 95 kilometres of which were in Kwali.
Wike listed the establishment of the FCT Civil Service Commission, appointment of an FCT head of service, financial autonomy for area councils and infrastructure upgrades across satellite towns as some of the current administration’s achievements.