The African Democratic Congress (ADC) coalition asserts that the Minister of Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, is visibly agitated by the successful launch of their new political alliance.
This coalition, which includes prominent figures like former Vice President Atiku Abubakar and the Labour Party’s 2023 presidential candidate, Peter Obi, formally unveiled the ADC on Wednesday as their platform to challenge President Bola Tinubu’s re-election bid in 2027.
At the launch event, former Senate President David Mark was appointed interim National Chairman, while former Osun State Governor Rauf Aregbesola was named interim National Secretary.
However, during a media briefing in Abuja on Thursday, Wike dismissed the coalition’s formation, arguing that the group lacks the necessary credibility and cohesion to effectively challenge President Tinubu’s administration.
He stated, “There is no coalition. The opposition has decimated themselves. The only party that can, if they put themselves well, challenge this government is the PDP.”
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In response, Bolaji Abdullahi, Spokesperson for the ADC coalition, suggested that Wike’s strong reaction indicates fear.
He commented, “Without justifying this behaviour that we find incompatible with the office of a Federal Minister, we believe Wike could only descend to that level because of his mortal fear of the threat that the successful unveiling of the coalition of opposition political parties constitutes to the government that he serves.”
Abdullahi further accused the current administration of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, which Wike serves, of failing to fulfill its promises to the Nigerian people.
He contended that if those promises had been kept, the coalition movement would not have been necessary, and Wike would not have cause to be so “jittery.”
According to him, “If minister Wike had paid the salaries of primary school teachers who have been on strike for several months and if he had not treated FCT workers with so much contempt, while he goes about commissioning white elephant projects running into billions of Naira, he would have had no need to be afraid of the coalition.
“Minister Wike claimed in his media chat that the coalition leaders are driven only by grievances. If we have any grievances, it is the way the government he is a part of has driven the majority of Nigerians into poverty and misery.”
The coalition also accused Wike of working to destroy the PDP.
“We are aggrieved to see children of the poor unable to get education because he would not pay their teachers’ salaries. We are aggrieved to watch the growing insecurity in the FCT that he superintends. We are aggrieved that minister Wike had allowed himself to be used by the government he serves to destroy one of the most powerful political parties in Africa, the PDP.
“But it is rather too late in the day to cry. The coalition movement belongs to the Nigerian people who had been promised renewed hope, but have been served renewed hopelessness. Therefore, no amount of tirade against the leaders of the coalition could stem the tide of this popular movement.”
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