Lere Olayinka, Senior Special Assistant on Public Communications and New Media to the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, Nyesom Wike has debunked allegations of anti-party activities leveled against the Minister by some members of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP.
Wike’s alleged romance with the All Progressives Congress, APC, since his recruitment into President Bola Tinubu’s cabinet has been raising concerns amongst some PDP members.
On different occasions, some stakeholders of the main opposition party had accused APC of fueling the leadership crisis rocking the main opposition party.
Recall that Segun Sowunmi, a PDP chieftain and former spokesman of the party’s presidential candidate in the 2023 election, Atiku Abubakar in November 2024 claimed that President Tinubu was responsible for PDP’s internal wranglings.
According to Sowunmi, Tinubu has no business appointing Wike as Minister of FCT, without consulting with the elders of the party.
“When Obasanjo wanted to form a government of national unity, he wrote to the elders of the party but what did Tinubu do, he took one of us and put him in a strategic position and suddenly the whole thing is complicated.
“If he wants everything to be okay, sack Wike and return him back to PDP and see if the party will not have stamina and move fast”, he said.
Similarly, a group of opposition lawmakers led by a member of the House of Representatives, Ikenga Ugochinyere, on November 25 accused the party’s National Working Committee, NWC of converting PDP to merely an “errand platform for the ruling party.”
According to him, “You have a national chairman and secretary who in 24 hours are in Nyesom Wike’s bedroom, a minister in the APC government.
“At a time when Nigeria is facing a serious crisis, our opposition is now in the bed of the ruling party”.
Addressing the matter in an exclusive interview with newsmen on Saturday, Olayinka countered the critics, insisting that Wike is not working for APC but only serving his nation.
According to him, “Wike is not working for APC, Wike is working for Nigeria. He is working for the government of the Federal Republic of Nigeria”.
Olayinka lamented that the critics “failed to understand that there is a difference between the parliamentary system of government and the presidential system of government”.
The Minister’s spokesperson explained that “it is only in the parliamentary system of government that the formation of the cabinet is restricted to the party that controls the majority in the parliament”.
Countering allegations of anti-party activities against the FCT Minister, Olayinka said “what is anti-party activity? Someone that informed his party that he was going to be appointed as minister by the ruling party and they didn’t raise objections?.
“When it is time to play politics, we play politics. We had an election last year and one person won. That chapter has ended. Right now, it is time for governance. President Tinubu saw the potential in the FCT Minister and gave him an appointment”.
Making reference to the recent appointment of Atiku’s former aide, Daniel Bwala as Tinubu’s Special Adviser on Public Communication and Media, Olayinka said Wike’s membership of Tinubu’s cabinet makes no difference.
He said, “This is the same way he gave people appointments from other parties, even people who once insulted him.
“What role did Daniel Bwala play in the last election? He was Atiku’s spokesman. Atiku funded him and he said several negative things against the president and now he is a special adviser to the president. How is that of Wike different?”
When asked if Wike would support a PDP candidate in the 2027 election, Olayinka simply said, “when we get to the bridge, we will cross it.
“Currently, the party doesn’t have a candidate or even an aspirant. This is time for governance and not politics”.
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