‘I Don’t Know How I Will Value Peter Obi’s Statement’ – Wike

Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, has criticised the 2027 presidential candidate of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC), Peter Obi, over his statement regarding the abduction of Oyo school children.

NEWSNGR recalls that Peter Obi asked President Bola Tinubu to resign or dump his second-term bid over what he described as the administration’s failure to address insecurity and its handling of the abduction of schoolchildren in Oyo State.

He accused President Tinubu of lacking compassion and capacity in responding to the country’s worsening security situation, saying the government’s handling of the Oyo schoolchildren’s abduction had left residents feeling “bitter and abandoned.”

The former Anambra State governor disclosed that he had previously spoken publicly about the incident twice, including appealing directly to the kidnappers to release the children. He added that he also called the Oyo State Governor, Seyi Makinde, twice to express solidarity.

He recalled that former Presidents Olusegun Obasanjo, Umaru Musa Yar’Adua and Goodluck Jonathan would personally contact state governors whenever major security incidents occurred.

Peter Obi, however, claimed he was surprised to learn that Makinde had not received any call from President Tinubu over the Oyo incident.

Reacting to the statement, Wike, during a media chat with journalists in Abuja on Thursday, said he never takes anything Peter Obi says seriously because he tends to politicise everything.

He said, “I don’t know how I will value any statement made by Peter Obi. He has not shown a man who is not consistent. Everything for him is politics. I am not in a position to confirm but I do know that if the President did not call Seyi, did Seyi call the President, that this is what has happened in my state. If he called him and they spoke, what is the problem?

“If something happens in my state now, it is for me to call Mr President first and say this is the problem. That is how it is done. You cannot turn it the other way round. You are the chief security of that area. If something happens, it is for you to put a call through to Mr President and say this is what has just happened in my state.”