…Speaks On Rift With Gov Fubara
The Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Barrister Nyesome Wike, has said he has character and will therefore not contest for president come 2027 against President Bola Tinubu.
Wike disclosed this during a media parley on Friday in Abuja, when he reiterated his commitment to the success of the Tinubu administration, even as he explained that the quest for justice was the key reason he and the G5 group of governors supported the presidential ambitions of Tinubu.
The minister noted that, having worked for the emergence of Tinubu as president and having been made minister of FCT, nothing would make him contest against the president in 2027.
He said, “Tinubu made me minister; people don’t understand; I have character. What will happen in 2027? I stood, and I said I’m not going to support injustice. I was threatened that they would do this and that. They tried many options, including using major generals.”
Asked for an update on his face-off with Governor Sim Fubara of Rivers State, Wike, who initially said he didn’t want to talk about the matter, later declared:
“Give a man power and money; that is when you will know the person. If you have not given manpower and money, don’t say you know the person.”
“He may be your friend; he may be your son, sister, mother, or father. I don’t want to go into that,” he stated.
He lamented that Fubara could seek to destroy the structure that produced him as governor just three months after his emergence as governor.
“In three months, it is sad for someone to scatter a political structure that supports and brings you up.
You know what is painful? All these allegations make me smile.
Who and who sat with him? In all your doings, be grateful for your life, no matter the circumstance. Nobody who is a gentleman and a politician will support this kind of thing.”
On his achievements as governor of Rivers State, Wike said, “I was paying pensioner’s gratuities every month, which were not paid by my predecessor. I took River State to the level where you cannot discuss politics in Nigeria without River State.
“I was an ordinary minister when I became governor. I challenged the sitting governor, and I defeated his candidate. I worked hard.”
On the new requirements for the acquisition of land in the Federal Capital Territory, particularly the introduction of the National Identity Number (NIN) and Biometric Verification Number (BVN) to the Certificate of Occupancy (C of O), the minister said the new features were for security and revenue generation.
Wike also disclosed that existing landowners in the capital must get recertification to incorporate these new features.
“There are a lot of discrepancies, a lot of cloning of C-of-Os, so we have come up with the idea that every allottee who seeks and applies for a C-of-O must supply his NIN; this is one of the features we are going to put in the new C-of-O,” he said.
“If a corporate body doesn’t have an NIN and they have property, they must put their BVN. So many people have not registered, and this will make them go and re-register.”
Addressing the issue of existing landlords with C-of-Os, Wike stated that they would only be required to pay a nominal fee for recertification.
“For everyone who has a C-of-O, they will come for a recertification, so that we can incorporate the NIN or BVN,” he said.
“Those who had a C-of-O before don’t need to pay money again; the highest they can pay is N50,000, and corporate bodies will pay N100,000. It helps in terms of security; it also helps to improve our revenue generation.”
“There are people who own seven properties, so this will identify them so they can pay taxes.”
Wike further stated that other benefits of this initiative include accurately identifying property owners for tax purposes.