Bode George: Wike should’ve paid PDP ground rent debt to show gratitude

Bode George, a chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), says Nyesom Wike, minister of the federal capital territory (FCT), should have paid the ground rent of the party’s headquarters in Abuja.

Speaking in an interview with Channels Television on Tuesday, George said Wike should have offset the debt to show loyalty and gratitude to the party that made him.

BACKGROUND

On Monday, the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) sealed off the PDP national secretariat in Abuja over an alleged failure to pay ground rent.

The PDP headquarters was shut as part of the enforcement efforts of the FCTA, which recently cancelled 4,794 land titles in Wuse, Maitama, Asokoro, and Garki over “years of unpaid ground rents”.

FCTA officials had said 8,375 property owners collectively owe about N6.97 billion, with some debts dating back more than 40 years.

Subsequently, President Bola Tinubu issued a 14-day ultimatum for defaulting property owners to pay their alleged ground rent debts.

‘PDP MADE WIKE’

Speaking on the saga, George said since Wike is a PDP member, he should have considered the benefits he has reaped from the party before taking the decision.

The PDP chieftain said Wike had occupied several political positions on the platform of the PDP since 1999.

“We were told we had not paid N7 million and so we defaulted on the ground rent,” George said.

“The painful part of it is that the minister is also a member of our party. They waited until the day we were to hold our NEC meeting to shut down the place.

“Talking as an African, culturally, let us look at it as his father’s house where he grew up, where he went to school and became a public personality. What do you do to pay back that family?

“Look at the appointments he had held. He has benefitted from the PDP massively.

“He should have just said to them, ‘okay, N7 million, I’ll pay from my pocket. Take the receipt back to the party’s secretariat’.

“And say, ‘you see, you people are foolish. I’m completely committed to this house; I am completely loyal to this house. I will not decimate it. This is the receipt, give me back my money’.

“That is what you call a true son of that family.”

George claimed that the building being occupied by the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the nation’s capital is also owing billions of naira in ground rent.