Wike to coalition leaders: You want to rescue your stomach, not Nigerians

Nyesom Wike, minister of the federal capital territory (FCT), says coalition leaders are only interested in “rescuing their stomach” and not Nigerians.

Wike spoke in Abuja on Sunday at St. James Anglican Church in Asokoro during the thanksgiving service held for the “successful completion of inaugurated projects” in the FCT.

The minister urged the congregants to be careful of “propaganda and blackmail” from politicians and appealed for patience and continued prayers for the Bola Tinubu-led administration.

He said many of the coalition leaders failed to deliver meaningful results to the country when they had the opportunity to serve, noting that their recent move shows that they cannot stay out of power for a very long time.

“In 1999, you were at this party. In 2006, you were in another party. In 2014, you moved to another party. In 2019, you came back to another party. Now, in 2025, you have moved to another party,” Wike said.

“To rescue who? You want to rescue your stomach. It’s not Nigerians you want to rescue.

“Some of you have sympathy for somebody you don’t know. You say Peter Obi will be president. President where?

“For eight years, he was governor; he never conducted local government elections. That is what you describe as democracy. Only you were the governor and chairman of the local governments.

“I was a senate president for eight years, for example, and I cannot provide a road to my local government, Otukpo, and I will fly a helicopter to Otukpo—eight years! It is now, and you say you want to rescue Nigeria. Which Nigeria do you want to rescue?

“Somebody was speaker for eight years, governor, eight years, minister, eight years; he didn’t know that Nigerians were angry. It’s just these two years he left office; you’re telling Nigerians that Nigerians are angry.”

Last Wednesday, opposition politicians adopted the African Democratic Congress (ADC) as their platform to challenge President Tinubu in 2027.

Several politicians cutting across party lines are members of the coalition.

They include former Senate President David Mark, Rauf Aregbesola, ex-minister of interior, former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar, and Peter Obi, presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP) in 2023.

Others are Aminu Tambuwal, former governor of Sokoto; Rotimi Amaechi, former minister of transportation; Solomon Dalung, former minister of sports; and Odigie Oyegun, former national chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC).