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Toyin Adebayo
Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT),Barr. Nyesom Wike, on Thursday waded into the leadership crisis rocking the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Rivers State, dismissing claims by the Emeka Beke-led faction that decisions taken by the Tony Okocha-led leadership had been nullified by the Court of Appeal.
Speaking during the inspection of ongoing projects in Abuja ahead of the third anniversary of President ’s administration, Wike described Beke as ignorant of party procedures and legal processes.
According to him, party primaries are conducted by the National Working Committee (NWC) and not state party structures, insisting that the recent court ruling did not invalidate candidates produced through APC primaries.
“Emeka Beke should go and read. It’s necessary to go and read. Don’t just come out to the public and begin to say what you don’t know,” Wike said.
The former Rivers State governor explained that the Court of Appeal only ruled on the jurisdiction of the State High Court to hear a dispute arising from party congresses and did not make any pronouncement on candidates produced by the party.
He said the substantive matter remains before the High Court and would have to be reassigned following the death of the judge who initially handled the case.
“The primaries are conducted by the National Working Committee of the party at the national level. People should understand the difference between internal party processes and what the court actually decided,” he added.
Wike maintained that there was no basis for claims that party officials or candidates had been sacked, noting that only the party’s national leadership has the authority to conduct and supervise primaries.
The minister also reacted to criticisms trailing his recent comments on the protest by members of the Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT) over the abduction of teachers in the Federal Capital Territory.
He insisted that he would not retract his remarks that some persons were politicising the protest.
“I’m not going to retract or withdraw anything. What I said, I stand by it. If anybody is not happy, he or she should take any action they want to take,” he declared.
Wike said his comments had been misconstrued, stressing that government remained concerned about the plight of kidnapped teachers and other victims of insecurity across the country.
“Security is for everybody. The mere fact that somebody has been kidnapped should be a concern to any government. It is not only about teachers, lawyers or medical doctors. We are all Nigerians and should be concerned wherever such incidents occur,” he stated.
He argued that Nigerians should show the same level of concern over insecurity regardless of where it occurs.
“If it happens in Sokoto, we should all be concerned. If it happens in Taraba, we should all be concerned. If it happens anywhere, we should all be concerned,” he said.
The minister stressed that the Federal Government and security agencies were working to secure the release of those abducted, while the FCT Administration continued to support efforts aimed at improving security within the territory.
Wike spoke after inspecting key infrastructure projects being executed by the FCT Administration, many of which are scheduled for commissioning as part of activities marking President Tinubu’s third anniversary in office.
He expressed satisfaction with the pace of work and assured residents that all projects slated for inauguration would be completed according to schedule.
