The Federal Capital Territory (FCT) minister, Barrister Nyesom Wike, Friday, November 24, declared that he would not contest against President Bola Tinubu in the 2027 presidential election.
Wike 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 ambition of Tinubu.
According to the minister, good character should never be compromised on the alter of politics.
Wike spoke during a live broadcast in his office with selected journalists.
He pointed out 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.
The minister said: “Tinubu made me the FCT minister and I won’t allow anybody to crumble our political structure. No!
“Tinubu made me minister, poeple 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 and some poeple said they will do me this and that. They tried many options including using major Generals.”
Asked for 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 said: “Give a man power and money, that is when you will know the person. If you have not given a man power and money, don’t say you know the person.
“He may be your friend, he may be your son, sister or mother or father. I don’t want to go into that.”
Wike lamented that Fubara could seek to destroy the structure which produced him as governor just within three months of his emergence as governor.
He said: “In three months, it is sad for someone to scatter a political structure that supported and bring you up.
You know what is painful? All these allegations, I smile. Who and who sat with him. In all your doings, be grateful in 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 gratuity every month which were not paid by my predecesor. I took River State to the level where you cannot discuss politics in Nigeria without Rivers State.
“I was an ordinary minister when I became a governor. I challenged the siting governor and I defeated his candidate. I worked hard.”
On the new requirements for acquisition of land in the Federal Capital Territory particularly the introduction of National Identity Number (NIN) and Biometric Verification Number (BVN) to Certificate of Occupancy (C of O), the minister said the new features were for security and revenue generation.
Wike also noted 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 an 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 a property, they must put their BVN. So many persons 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 are in identifying property owners accurately for tax purposes.