A chieftain of the All Progressives Congress and federal lawmaker, Abdulmumin Jibrin, has declared that the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, remains an asset to the ruling party and should not be subjected to public embarrassment.
Jibrin stated this on Wednesday night while featuring on Channels Television’s Politics Today, where he defended Wike amid criticisms from some APC governors over his continued membership of the Peoples Democratic Party and his support for President Bola Tinubu’s second-term bid.
He added that no member of the ruling party could claim not to have benefited from Wike’s efforts in delivering President Bola Ahmed Tinubu as Nigeria’s President.
“There is no APC member in Nigeria today that has not directly or indirectly benefited from the efforts of Wike, so long as delivering the President, also managing the government, also performing his work, there is nobody,” Jibrin declared.
The Kano lawmaker said Wike’s contributions to the APC-led administration and Tinubu’s political project should be recognised rather than attacked publicly.
“Wike is an asset to the APC. I don’t think Wike should be embarrassed at this moment with public statements,” he said.
He further stressed, “Wike is an asset to APC; he has sacrificed so much for the President and the APC.”
Jibrin explained that his intervention was not based on a personal relationship with the FCT Minister but on his concern about maintaining the stability of efforts towards securing Tinubu’s second term.
“And secondly, he made a huge sacrifice. As I talk to you, before only God I worship, I don’t know Wike, but he knows me from afar, and I know him from afar, if I see him I know he is Wike, and if he sees me he will know I’m Honourable Jibrin, I have met him just twice accidentally, so I’m not holding any brief for Wike, but I think anything that is going to touch on the stability of the journey towards delivering the President, I like to make my intervention,” he explained.
The former Chairman of the House Committee on Appropriation also cited what he described as Wike’s political sacrifices, including his role in the political realignment that strengthened the APC in Rivers State and his support for the ruling party in the FCT.
“I believe that Wike has sacrificed; he handed over Rivers to APC, Wike had candidates [in the] FCT election but asked them to step down for APC. Wike came into this government as [part of the] government of national unity. In reality, we should be fair to him; he has done far more than that,” he said.
Jibrin argued that Wike’s decision to remain in the PDP while supporting the President should not be treated as unusual, noting that politicians outside the APC were also contributing to Tinubu’s political project.
“There are people who are in other parties, who are working with us in the NDC, in the ADC. Some of them called me yesterday, saying, ‘Look at what they are saying about Wike,’” he stated.
He urged APC governors who have disagreements with Wike to engage him privately rather than criticising him publicly.
“For the governors, they should take Wike as part of them. You call Wike the number 32 governor and Adeleke the number 33 governor of the APC; if there is a problem at the state level, the entire coalition that he is doing is for the President, if anybody at the subnational level feels it may work against him or his interest, they should discuss with Wike, but I do not think Wike should be embarrassed by statements,” he stated.
Jibrin’s comments came amid criticisms of Wike by some APC governors, including Kwara State Governor, AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq, and Imo State Governor, Hope Uzodimma, over the minister’s continued membership of the PDP while mobilising support for Tinubu’s 2027 re-election bid through the “Rainbow Coalition”.
The lawmaker maintained that Wike’s political support had produced electoral gains for the ruling party, pointing to the APC’s victory in five of the six Area Councils in the recently concluded FCT elections.
