Nyesom Wike, immediate past governor of Rivers state,
received the loudest ovation during the swearing-in of ministers-designate at
the banquet hall of the presidential villa.
It all began when event compere Ajuri Ngelale, who is the
special adviser to the president on media and publicity, introduced Wike as
“minister-designate from the great Rivers state”.
A loud ovation and raucous laughter erupted in the hall
afterwards, as Wike tried to suppress a smile.
Behind Wike, Yahaya Bello, governor of Kogi, led the
cheerleaders as the minister-designate took a bow with his citation being read.
Wike’s reaction after taking his oath of office elicited
more laughter from the audience. He shook and held President Bola Tinubu’s hand
for longer, as both men grinned and laughed into the cameras.
There was even more laughter as Wike walked to his seat in a
somewhat cocky and unusual manner.
It took Ngelale’s baritone voice to restore sanity to the
hall.
“I will now request
that we keep the noise down a bit,” Ngelale bellowed into the microphone.
President Tinubu has named Wike, a politician from the
opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), as minister of the federal capital
territory (FCT).
Wike was one of 48 ministerial nominees screened by the
senate.
BACKGROUND
The Rivers-born politician reportedly worked against Atiku Abubakar,
his party’s standard bearer in the February 25 election.
Wike was among the group of five or “G5” governors who
insisted that the presidency must return to the south after former President
Muhammadu Buhari’s eight-year tenure elapsed.
They announced that their decision was based on equity,
justice, fairness and a gentleman’s rotational arrangement.
Wike would go on to hobnob with Tinubu and chieftains of the
All Progressives Congress (APC) in the buildup to the general election and
after a winner was declared by the electoral umpire.
Wike thereafter invited then President-elect Tinubu to
Rivers state to inaugurate infrastructure projects.
He was also in and around the presidential villa for
meetings with the president and members of his kitchen cabinet as Tinubu set
out his stall for governance.
Wike is a member of the PDP campaign council ahead of
off-cycle elections in Imo, Rivers and Kogi.
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