Wike behaves as if he can dictate to everybody – Abati

Former presidential aide and Arise TV Morning Show anchor Dr. Reuben Abati has strongly criticized the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, for allegedly conducting himself as though he possesses the authority to dictate political choices to the Nigerian electorate. 

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Abati asserted that Wike’s public behavior reflects a belief that he can unilaterally assign political offices ahead of the 2027 general elections.

He made the comments on Friday during the “What’s Trending” segment of the Morning Show, hosted by Ojy Okpe.

Abati’s critique was prompted by video footage circulating online in which Wike was seen purportedly allocating political positions to associates during a rally in Rivers State.

According to Abati, the minister declared that President Bola Tinubu would retain the presidency while outlining specific candidates for various elective offices, including governorship, Senate, House of Representatives, and state House of Assembly seats, before calling individuals forward to accept the designations.

Abati challenged the minister’s actions, emphasizing that political offices in a democracy must be decided through the ballot box rather than distributed by political figures.

“Wike and Senator Umahi and all of them they are working for the same purpose, to make sure that President Tinubu is elected. So, they are family in that regard,” Abati said. “But what I don’t understand is the way Minister Wike, for example, behaves as if he can dictate to everybody.”

Describing the viral video, Abati expressed concern over the public nature of the political allocations.

“There is one video in circulation. He had an event in the Rivers where he was practically sharing positions, telling at a rally, telling people the president of Nigeria, that’s the President Tinubu, will take presidency. He will take governorship. He will take all the Senate members. And he was calling the people there to step forward, saying yes, vote for this one,” Abati noted. 

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“It’s then after allocating positions to the president, he now said he as Wike, it’s not good that he too doesn’t take something. Then he called out one person who will go to House of Reps, then some boys or some of his boys who will go to House of Assembly, and people were excited. He was allocating seats.”

Reiterating his objection to such political maneuvers, Abati concluded that authority must remain with the voters.

“No. Nobody should have that kind of power. It should be the Nigerian people, the electorate that should vote. But as for their family, yeah, they have the right to work together,” Abati added.