Former Edo State Governor and Senator representing Edo North, Adams Oshiomhole, has dismissed speculation that the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, opposes President Bola Tinubu’s election.
NEWSNGR reports that the lawmaker representing Edo North in the Senate stated this during an interview on TVC News’ Beyond The Headlines while reacting to reported disagreements between some All Progressives Congress (APC) governors and Wike.
He dismissed speculation of a coalition against Tinubu, arguing that differences among political actors would not amount to a coalition.
“I have not heard any side of the argument suggesting that anyone, including FCT Minister, that he is opposed to President Bola’s re-election,” Oshiomhole said.
According to him, Wike has repeatedly declared his support for Tinubu despite not being an APC member.
“He has said so by himself repeatedly that he is not an APC person. He is not a member of APC, but he supports the President,” he said.
Oshiomhole also pointed to Wike’s appointment as FCT Minister as evidence of Tinubu’s willingness to work across party lines, describing the minister as one of the PDP’s “best hands” in managing the capital.
“We have also all congratulated PDP for lending to us what we consider to be one of the best hands in PDP, managing the FCT and driving the huge infrastructural changes that we are witnessing in the Federal Capital Territory,” he said.
He added: “What better way to propose national unity than to have a President appointing somebody from an opposition party to manage the FCT as a minister?”
Oshiomhole said he would be concerned if there were evidence that Wike did not support Tinubu, but stressed that the minister had repeatedly reaffirmed his loyalty to the President.
He also said none of the APC governors had declared that they would not support Tinubu’s re-election.
“Is there any coalition against the President? The answer is no. So I really don’t see the big issue,” Oshiomhole said.
The former governor argued that political disagreements are normal, saying people can have different views on how best to achieve a common objective without disagreeing on the objective itself.
“For me, my joy is that all the APC governors are committed to the re-election of President Bola Tinubu and the FCT Minister is obviously committed to the election of Bola Tinubu,” he said.
Oshiomhole urged the APC to focus on selling Tinubu’s record and explaining the economic reforms undertaken by the administration rather than over-dramatising political disagreements.
He likened the state of the Nigerian economy Tinubu inherited to a patient with advanced cancer, arguing that the administration had been forced to undertake painful reforms to restore the economy.
“It’s like a patient who was almost already on stage four of cancer and you needed to apply chemotherapy of the strongest quality,” Oshiomhole said.
