The Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, said he sought the approval of some leaders of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) before accepting his ministerial nomination by President Bola Tinubu.

Wike, the immediate former governor of Rivers State, was officially sworn in as the FCT minister on Monday, along with other ministers in the Tinubu administration.

However, the former governor’s appointment stirred public criticism due to his membership in the opposition PDP and an earlier statement indicating his reluctance to assume a ministerial position after his governorship term.

In his inaugural press conference as the FCT Minister, Wike said he had written letters to the acting national chairman of the PDP, Umar Damagun, the current governor of Rivers State, Siminalayi Fubara, and the minority leaders of the Senate and House of Representatives seeking their approval to accept the offer.

Wike noted that all the PDP leaders to whom he reached out granted him authorization to proceed with the ministerial appointment.

Wike challenged his critics, stating, “Can you even mention who is my enemy? Can you even mention one person that is my enemy? See, people carry propaganda. Let me use this opportunity to tell you that I don’t like people who don’t tell the truth.

“They said they’re going to sanction me because I accepted the appointment. I don’t have any clause.”

The newly-appointed minister also noted that PDP governors across various states had participated in the process of submitting names for potential ministerial appointments, pointing out that his case was not unique.

“The president wrote to the 36 state governors to bring names of people to appoint, didn’t PDP governors submit names? Every PDP governor wrote a letter and nominated ten persons to be appointed by this government,” Wike said.

“But the one they talk about is Wike. Before this appointment came, I wrote to the national chairman. I wrote to the minority leaders of the House of Representatives and Senate.

“I wrote to the zonal chairman of the party and my state chairman. I wrote to my governor and all of them wrote me back and said accept.”

Wike, however, added that he documented evidence of the permissions he received from various leaders of his party and likened those who questioned his appointment to “reggae dancers” who lose opportunities due to arrogance and impunity.

“I have my evidence documented. Forget these reggae dancers. I call them reggae dancers because when you’ve lost your opportunity, you’ve lost your opportunity because of arrogance and impunity,” Wike said.
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