Jibrin warns APC govs against embarrassing Wike

A chieftain of the ruling All Progressives Congress APC and federal lawmaker, Hon. Abdulmumin Jibrin, has warned aggrieved governors within the party against publicly embarrassing the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory FCT, Nyesom Wike, insisting that no member of the ruling party can claim not to have benefited from his efforts in delivering President Bola Tinubu.

Jibrin, a former Chairman of the House Committee on Appropriation, spoke on Wednesday night while featuring on Channels Television’s Politics Today, where he mounted a spirited defence of the FCT minister amid mounting attacks from some APC governors.

Describing Wike as central to the party’s fortunes, the Kano lawmaker declared: “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.”

He went further to stress the scale of sacrifice the FCT minister has made for the ruling party, stating plainly: “Wike is an asset to APC, he has sacrificed so much for the President and the APC. I don’t think Wike should be embarrassed at this moment with public statements.”

Jibrin’s intervention came amid criticisms of Wike by some APC governors, notably Kwara State Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq and Imo State Governor Hope Uzodimma, who have questioned his section to float a national rainbow coalition for Tinubu while still remaining in the Peoples Democratic Party PDP.

Detailing the extent of what he described as Wike’s sacrifices, Jibrin said the minister had surrendered his own political structures for the benefit of the APC. “Wike has sacrificed, he handed over Rivers to APC, Wike had candidates in the FCT Council election but asked them to step down for APC. Wike came into this government as government of national unity. In reality, we should be fair to him; he has done far more than that,” he said.

He clarified that his defence of the FCT minister was not borne of personal closeness but of concern for the stability of Tinubu’s second-term project, revealing he has met Wike only twice. “As I talk to you, before the 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 am Honourable Jibrin, I have met him just twice accidentally, so I am 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 lawmaker noted that it was not unusual in politics for members of other parties to work for the APC, pointing out that Wike was not alone in that position. “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 said.

He credited Wike’s support with translating into concrete electoral gains for the party, citing the APC’s victory in five of the six Area Councils in the last FCT elections, and maintained that politics is ultimately about numbers and winning.

Urging the governors to embrace rather than isolate Wike, Jibrin advised that any grievances at the subnational level be resolved through dialogue with the minister directly rather than through public confrontation.

He said, “For the governors, they should take Wike as part of them; you call Wike the number 32 governor and Adeleke number 33 governor of the APC. If there is 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 with statements.”