2027: Wike Backs Aduda, Warns Voters Against Mistake In FCT

Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, has thrown his considerable political weight behind Senator Philip Tanimu Aduda for re-election to the National Assembly, warning indigenous voters that making a mistake this time will be difficult for them.

Wike made this known on Thursday during an Appreciation Rally jointly organised by the FCT Stakeholders Assembly and the FCT Original Inhabitants Elders Forum, held in the nation’s capital, where traditional rulers had earlier conferred on him the chieftaincy title of Hasken Abuja (The Light of Abuja).

However, what began as a ceremony of gratitude quickly transformed into a blunt political sermon from a minister known for his unvarnished rhetoric and strategic shrewdness.

Addressing a gathering that included the FCT Council of Chiefs, area council chairmen-elect, and hundreds of indigenous community members, Wike did not mince words about the territory’s 2023 voting pattern and its consequences for political influence.

“You made a mistake last time. You elected a senator you cannot see. A senator who cannot go to traditional rulers to talk. A senator who cannot even organise the indigenous community to ask what their needs are.

“Now you have come to me to ask for your needs. But if I have a senator I can relate to, it makes it easier. And that is why I am here to tell you: I will support Senator Philip Tanimu Aduda,” he said.

Aduda, a seasoned politician who has served in the senate since 2011 and was once Senate Minority Leader, lost his seat in the 2023 elections.

Wike argued that experience and ranking in the upper chamber are non-negotiable assets.

“The senate is not an all-comers game. The senate is eyeball to eyeball. Experience matters. Ranking matters. Aduda has been there. When he talks, his colleagues will listen. Somebody will go there and they will ask, ‘Who are you? From where?’

“I have seen one of your boys saying he wants to go to the senate. He was just elected council chairman yesterday. He has not been sworn in. He will be sworn in in June. At the same time, you want to go to the senate? Who will you talk to in the senate?

“Time will come for everything. Finish your second term as chairman. You are still young. You cannot take somebody who has experience in the National Assembly for over 14 years and somebody who has not completed a second term as chairman, and say you are playing politics. That kind of politics will consume you,” he said.

Earlier, the FCT Council of Chiefs, led by the Ona of Abaji and Chairman of the Council, Dr. Adamu Baba Yunusa, presented a sweeping set of demands that amounted to a constitutional re-engineering of the territory’s political structure.

“Considering the population of the FCT, which we estimate at over six million, we think that the FCT deserves more than one senatorial district,” Dr. Yunusa told the Minister and the gathering.

The monarchs formally requested the expansion from one to three senatorial districts, the creation of additional Federal Constituencies, the establishment of more Area Councils, and representation for the FCT on the Board of Trustees of the North Central Development Commission (NCDC).

Yunusa described Wike as a “Governor among Governors” for his dual role as minister and de facto chief executive of the territory, urging him to serve as a bridge to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

“We appeal to you to facilitate a meeting with Mr. President to present these constitutional aspirations directly,” the monarch said.

Responding to the monarch’s requests, Wike said, “All you have requested here, you are entitled to it. I come from a community that is the headquarters of a state. I know how you feel. I know the impact of a state capital on you. Under the administration of Bola Tinubu, whatever is due to you will be given to you,” he said.

On the demand for elevation of traditional stools, including requests to upgrade the status of chiefdoms like Garki and Jiwa, the minister clarified his office’s limits.

“The third class you are talking about, it is not in my position to write who will be. It is for you to send the names to us. I don’t even know who is who. You people should do the right thing. I will be waiting for you to submit the names,” he said.

He also promised action on the request for 17 tractors, one for each chiefdom — saying that he will tell the Mandate Secretary for Agriculture to make sure that all the chiefdoms have a tractor, as the Ona of Abaji has said.

Wike dismissed suggestions of his personal popularity as the engine of development, redirecting credit to the President.

“Our people say: monkey dey jump, monkey dey jump, no be when tree near tree? Let monkey jump when trees are not close, the legs will break.

“I am doing well because Mr. President is giving me support. So we now have the opportunity to be inside the kitchen cabinet of Mr. President by making sure that for what he has done for the people of FCT, we reciprocate,” he said.

He reminded the natives that President Tinubu received less than six percent of FCT votes in 2023, yet has continued to develop the territory.

“He still remembered that you are Nigerians. This is a capital. Whether you voted for him or not, he must do something. But now that you have come out to say, ‘Look, we are backing you,’ what will happen? More things will come to you,” he said.

Wike also used the platform to deliver a stern message to newly-elected Area Council chairmen, who are due to be sworn in in June.

“You knew what was coming. You are coming to solve problems, you are not coming to cry that there are problems. Don’t come again to start crying about problems.

“There is nothing anybody can justify that your children are sitting at home when they are supposed to be in school. Education is the first priority for any nation. Without education, there cannot be development. We keep talking about insecurity; without education, it will be worse,” he said.