Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, has given reasons for his absence at the recent Council of State meeting.
He attributed it to pre-scheduled official duties and dismissed media reports of a rift with President Bola Tinubu as “unnecessary propaganda and blackmail.”
The minister’s explanation came yesterday during the inauguration of Access Roads in Sector Centre B of the Dakibiyu District, Abuja, days after the high-profile meeting where Prof. Joash Amupitan was nominated as chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
Wike said his absence was a matter of protocol, not a protest.
“Sometime last week (Thursday), we had a flag-off. And I told the minister of State for FCT to represent me at the Council of State meeting.
“I had already told Mr President that I would not be available because of other engagements we had already put in place,” he said.
The minister’s comment was ostensibly a direct response to a report by an online platform, which claimed he boycotted the meeting due to a deepening rift with the President.
The report alleged that Wike was unhappy that his preferred nominee for the INEC chairmanship, Justice Abdullahi Muhammad Liman, was not selected.
Addressing these claims head-on, Wike said, “They said I did not attend because I was unhappy that my nominee was not taken.
“I work for Mr President. Mr President’s judgment, as far as I’m concerned, in this country has always been how to put this country in the right perspective,” he said.
Wike urged his team to remain focused on delivering projects, asserting that tangible results were the most effective rebuttal to critics.
“Be focused. When you start delivering, the achievement will silence all critics. Today they have nothing to say,” he said.
The minister credited the President’s leadership for the spate of project inaugurations in the FCT.
“I have always said that when you have the right leadership, you can achieve the expected results. Mr President, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, Grand Commander of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, has shown the right leadership,” he said.
