The Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, has taken a swipe at former Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Engr. Babachir Lawal, over his recent remarks about President Bola Tinubu.
Speaking during an interview on Channels Television’s ‘Politics Today’ on Tuesday night, Wike accused Lawal of making disparaging comments about the President out of bitterness after failing to emerge as Tinubu’s running mate in the 2023 elections.
“After Mr. President chose his VP, I was one of those that Babachir Lawal visited. He came to my house in Port Harcourt; he came with one of the former speakers of the House of Representatives. What was his anger? His anger was that he thought that Mr. President would have chosen him as the vice-presidential candidate. Having not done that, hell had to let loose,” Wike said.
Responding to Lawal’s criticism that Tinubu’s government was “unapproachable,” Wike dismissed the claim as baseless, stressing that governance does not require everyone to personally reach the President.
“When he said Mr. President is unapproachable, the government is not approachable, what do you call government? I am a minister in charge of the Federal Capital Territory; Mr. A is a minister in charge of Interior; Mrs. B is a minister in charge of Trade, Investment and Industry. Must everybody reach Mr. President? Is that the way government runs?
“If everybody in this country will not reach out to the ministers, special advisers, and you just want to reach out to the President, how many people can Mr. President see at a time? I am a minister; have you made any move if you have a problem as regards demonstrations or activities in the FCT? If he is not always on seat, then he is always travelling?” the minister queried.
When pressed by the TV host on whether the Tinubu administration was indeed approachable, Wike responded in the affirmative.
“Yes,” he said firmly, insisting that the government remains accessible through its ministers and advisers.
