Senator Ireti Kingibe has launched a scathing attack on the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, describing his appointment by President Bola Tinubu as a critical error and accusing him of ruling the capital with complete disregard for the law.
Speaking during an interview on ARISE NEWS on Monday, the FCT lawmaker said her conflict with Wike stems from his alleged autocratic leadership and consistent violation of constitutional procedures.
“The primary thing is that the minister doesn’t obey the rule of law. He’s autocratic. He doesn’t follow any rules or any laws. And when you try to draw his attention that governance is based on laws, the rule of law, he doesn’t accept that,” Kingibe stated.
She expressed concerns about what she described as Wike’s illegal reintroduction of certain agencies.
“Minister Nyesom Wike has brought back agencies without the enabling laws. If he wants these things, he should ask the National Assembly to create the enabling laws. But he doesn’t, because he’s just autocratic. He feels, I can do anything.”
Citing a specific example, Kingibe alleged that Wike revoked most of the land allocated to the University of Abuja.
“Abuja University had approximately 11,000 hectares. Minister Wike has revoked 7,000 of it and left them with four. It is definitely against the Land Use Act for you to take land from institutions to give them to individuals.”
She claimed Wike’s leadership style has led to job losses and widespread dissatisfaction among residents.
“Every minister has come and found the streets being cleaned by indigent women. Even when some ministers come and want to bring mechanical street sweepers, we say, no, this is a source of livelihood for our indigent women, widows and other underprivileged women. He comes, he’s fired them all… Then he doesn’t replace them with mechanical street sweepers. So Abuja is looking dirty.”
On unpaid local contractors, she said, “There are these people called Abuja Small Indigenous Contractors… maybe about four or five hundred of them that had not been paid. He says, no, he’s not paying them. He didn’t give them the job. And that’s that. And he didn’t. Two years on, they haven’t been paid.”
Reacting to Wike’s reported popularity in recent polls, she said, “If truly, Minister Wike is as popular as… You’re talking about that poll, depending on who conducted the poll and how it was conducted. I’m not knocking it, but I am saying, local government elections are coming in a few months.”
She continued, “When we come to any kind of election, can he tell the people, go and do this and they do it? If he can’t, then it means that all that any minister has been doing is blustering and carrying on and just making noise.”
The senator went on to criticise President Tinubu for giving Wike such political prominence, despite being a member of the opposition.
“It’s my personal opinion that that is rather unfortunate, because if I were making a list of all the things that President Tinubu has done wrong, the greatest wrong he’s done to himself, the thing that has demarcated him the most has been on Minister Wike.”
She accused the minister of repurposing land meant for a general hospital. “In Bwari, there’s land allocated for a general hospital. Minister Wike revokes it and he’s having some sort of a market or mall or something put on it.”
“Minister Wike has been harassing all of FCT over ground rent… including embassies,” she added.
Asked what action she planned to take with documents she claimed proved misuse of authority, Kingibe said, “Oh, I’m going to take those documents and go to the body, the equivalent of his state assembly, and insist that that assembly, the president from whom Wike derives his powers, goes back to the National Assembly for approval for everything.”
She added, “Wike, who is deriving powers from him, does not go to the National Assembly for anything except budget. TSA, all his IGR, what has he done with it? He’s never accounted for anything.”
Responding to whether she fears the minister, she said, “I’m definitely not afraid of him. I’m not saying he should be afraid of me. I’m just saying that considering he should be aware that most things he does, I will know.”
She also shared a security concern following an oversight function. “The other day I was coming back from… I went for oversight to Sokoto… a black jeep was following me all the way, almost all the way home. But the truth is I’m a senator of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. I have rights… I’m not afraid. It’s God who protects.”
On the possibility of working together for the benefit of the FCT, Kingibe said, “I cannot force him. Even letters I’ve not responded to. At least if I write as, and it’s my job to do so… the very least I expect is even if he’s too big to respond, he would have an aide who can write back…”
She confirmed her exit from the Labour Party and alignment with the ADC, saying, “Well, I will defect, but I haven’t officially done so yet.”
“For some months now I have been party-less. If I go by a faction of Labour that says they’ve suspended me… our faction also said we’ve suspended and expelled the other faction.”
When asked directly if her new political direction was ADC, she answered, “Oh, definitely.”
She further said, “Right now we have all the aspirants have taken cards in APC, they’ve taken tickets in ADC, and also we have a huge influx of FCT politicians joining the ADC. So we’re preparing and gearing up for a major battle with APC come 2026.”
Faridah Abdulkadiri
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