Edith CHUKU
A former member of the Adamawa State House of Assembly, Hon. Ibrahim A. Waziri, has expressed dismay over the activities of the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Chief Nyesom Ezenwo Wike, in Abuja.
Waziri who represented Yola South Constituency in the assembly said Wike has not made any positive impact since he became the FCT Minister. He accused the immediate past governor of Rivers State of seizing lands belonging to common residents while compensating those he described as mafias.
In an interview with TNN on Monday, the ex-lawmaker said “Well it’s unfortunate. It’s unfortunate that Wike is coming in just after been a governor, he can claim to do anything that he used to do in Rivers State and goes scoot free but in Abuja it is different. It is different because Abuja is not Rivers State.
“Abuja is the federal capital territory and this is where all the mafias are, I know some people, I can mention names, I know some people that he revoked their land and he later called them while they’ve already sold those lands, he called them back to say apply for land we will give you another land somewhere.
“Now, if you are not a mafia, Wike will just seize your land and go away. He has not done anything, I tell you, Wike has not done anything and he is not doing anything for the common man, he is just there for them; members of the cabal, the elite, that is what he is doing and he felt Abuja is like Port Harcourt, Abuja is not like Rivers.
“You know what he did in Port Harcourt; he insults whoever he wants to insult, he makes chiefs that he wanted to make and he keeps insulting them publicly and he claims to do things that he didn’t do, that is not a problem. Abuja is a federal capital territory, it belongs to all of us, every tribe in Nigeria has a share in Abuja, so, you cannot come to Abuja and operate like a Port Harcourt man and you think that you will live freely, it’s not possible, when you come to Abuja you operate like a true Nigerian.
“A true Nigerian is the person that will carry everybody along, not only the mafias, not only his tribe or only his political elite, no, you carry everybody along because if you did whatever you wanted to do in Rivers, you cannot do it here in Abuja, you can’t.
“Abuja belongs to all of us. For me personally, I don’t have anything against him, but his performance is by far below my expectation. The first mistake he made was what is happening in Gaza, where even the Americans, people in America are fighting their government for supporting Israel, he’s calling Israel to come to Abuja and do what?
“You know we are Nigerians, you know the constitution of Nigeria, Nigeria is a non-alien nation, it’s against what Israel is doing in Gaza, but he personally is inviting the Israeli Ambassador to come to Abuja to do what has no value to our culture, no value for our religion.”
You will recall that recently residents of the FCT stormed the National Assembly Complex on a protest they tagged Wike must go. The protesters under the aegis of the Network of Civil Societies for Economic Sustainability accused the minister of incompetency, insisting that he lacked vision for the FCT.
The convener of the protest, Adamu Kabir Matazu, in his address described Wike as callous, indecorous, uncouth, greedy and selfish, stressing that the nation deserved leaders who prioritize the public interest over personal agendas.
Less than three days after the Wike must go demonstration, hundreds of Abuja residents took to the National Assembly on a protest to declare their support for Wike.
The Wike’s supporters urged President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to ignore the call for his resignation, even as they expressed the believe that Wike came to give Abuja the world class desiring look.
They warned detractors to steer clear, stressing that the minister has embarked on what they described as the project of developing the FCT to the world standard.
