..Wike Vows To Ensure Tinubu Wins Second Term
..Minister says Amaechi Hungry for Power, Lied on 60th Birthday
The All Progressives Congress (APC) on Monday, described Atiku Abubakar, former Vice President; Mallam Nasir el-Rufai, former Governor of Kaduna state and Rotimi Amaechi, former governor of Rivers State as displaced rent-seekers who are desperate to grab power purely for their self aggrandizement.
This is coming as the ruling party also blamed the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for the free-fall of the Naira, more than 10 years after the party lost the presidential election.
Reacting to issues that came up at the 60 birthday celebration in Abuja at the weekend, the APC Spokesman, Felix Morka said the allegation that the APC government of President Bola Tinubu was “weaponizing” poverty by not eradicating the scourge in two years is baseless.
The APC said poverty eradication was a feat the trio of Atiku, el-Rufai and Amaechi “failed to achieve during a quarter of a century in power.”
The APC Spokesman lamented that Amaechi’s birthday “celebration quickly dissolved into an occasion for Amaechi, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, former Vice President, and Mallam Nasir El-Rufai, former Governor of Kaduna state and former Minister of the Federal Capital Territory – leading displaced rent-seekers – to showcase their frenzied desperation to grab power purely for their self aggrandizement.
“These three individuals have occupied Nigeria’s highest political offices between 1999 and 2023, either as Vice President, Governors, or Ministers, among other important positions.
“In all 24 years, the trio, individually or collectively, could not and did not eradicate poverty in their states or the country. They did not even attempt to address, let alone tackle, the structural challenges and distortions that stifled the economy and worsened poverty over the years.
“Rather, they revelled in mindless rent-seeking behavior, sold national assets to their cronies for mere pittance, engaged in corrupt and wasteful expenditures in their states, and relentlessly sponsored state violence against their own people.
“Take the case of Amaechi, the celebrant, who served for an unbroken total of 24 years – eight years as Speaker of the Rivers State House of Assembly, eight years as Governor of Rivers State, and eight years as Minister of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
“That’s about a quarter of a century of freeloading by Amaechi on state resources, with absolutely no record of attempting to combat poverty in his Rivers State or the country.
“When Amaechi declared, ‘I am hungry,’ he must mean, and must be understood to mean, that he is hungry and desperate to return to his felt entitled dependency on state resources and patronage.
“That he is hungry barely two years out of office simply underscores the depth of the self-serving motivations of Amaechi and his coalition partners in their quest for power for selfish exploitation, and not for the interest of the people.
“Nigerians see right through their disruptive politicking. Amaechi and his cohorts are losing their grip on the economy.
“Accustomed to fleecing the economy, they are now compelled by Tinubu’s unprecedented reforms to adapt to a new reality where hard work, productivity, and innovation are rewarded.
“Their criticisms of President Tinubu’s reforms are decidedly self-serving, driven by a desperate quest for power to satiate their voracious rent-seeking appetite, which has long stifled and denied progress to the economy.
“On contrary, it was the failure of previous administrations, particularly 16 years of PDP administrations, to allow the Naira to find its real value that created the economic conditions of poverty that the present administration is now addressing.
“The erstwhile artificially overvalued Naira stifled local production, encouraged import dependency, and exacerbated poverty. Ironically, Atiku and Peter Obi, who are now vociferously criticizing President Tinubu’s policies, amassed their wealth from the very import-dependent system they are desperately trying to preserve.
“Atiku, a former Custom Officer, and Obi, a successful importer, reaped enormous benefits from the old system. Their criticisms reek of special interest masqueraded as concern for the people.
“By allowing market forces to determine the Naira’s value, the administration is taking necessary bold steps to catalyze economic growth, incentivize investment, boost competitiveness, and alleviate poverty.
“Indubitably, in two years, President Tinubu has demonstrated political will to tackle structural barriers to the country’s economic growth and development far more than any other President in Nigeria’s modern history.
“By his bold economic reforms, President Tinubu is systematically building the most potent bulwark against poverty and positioning the economy to deliver sustained and sustainable growth and prosperity for all Nigerians.
“The criticisms variously leveled by Amaechi, Atiku, El-Rufai and Peter Obi mask a shameless attempt to perpetuate and cling to the old rent-seeking economy that enriched them at the expense of the Nigerian people.
“As beneficiaries of the corrupt and inefficient economic system, they are discomforted that Tinubu’s reforms are dismantling the insidious and permissive system that enabled and sustained their reckless plunder and exploitation of the economy.
“Meanwhile, Nigerians in productive sectors are reaping the benefits of reforms that have increased opportunities and income.
“Entrepreneurs, farmers, and service providers are thriving, while rent-seekers like Amaechi and his coalition partners are left seething with rage at the disruption of their ability to milk the system for personal gain as before.
“The removal of fuel subsidy has been a game-changer. It ended massive corruption that plagued the fuel subsidy enterprise, eliminated perennial shortages and queues at petrol stations, and has sparked a surge in investments in the oil and gas and other sectors of the economy, further expanding opportunities for businesses and individuals.
“The harmonization of multiple exchange rates has further bolstered Nigeria’s competitiveness in the global market for goods and capital.
“With increased revenue, the federal, state, and local governments are now investing more in critical infrastructure, education, health, security, and social welfare.
“Importantly, states that previously struggled to pay N30,000 minimum wage are now paying a significantly higher minimum wage of N70,000 per month. This is a testament to the administration’s commitment to improving the welfare of Nigerians.
“The President’s reforms are dawning a new day for Nigeria, now witnessing economic transformation never before seen in our country’s history, driven by proper pricing of the Naira and fuel, and steadily transitioning the country from a consumption-laden to a production-oriented economic powerhouse.
“Our trade balances are seeing a drastic improvement, with a sharp decline in imports and a steep rise in exports, reporting impressive trade surpluses and economic growth rate of 4.6 percent in the last quarter of 2024, representing the highest growth rate in a decade, amid significant decline in global price of crude oil.
“This turnaround is a direct testament to the government’s steadfast efforts to promote local production, entrepreneurship, and economic diversification, ultimately paving the way for a more sustainable, resilient, and prosperous economy.
“Indications of a steadily rebounding economy are now manifesting in all sectors of the economy. Local industries are booming, and our reliance on imports is plummeting.
“The Dangote refinery is revolutionizing the market with its products in Nigeria, while manufacturers in the South East are producing top-notch products in unprecedented quantities, generating thousands of jobs and stimulating economic growth.
“This progress is a monumental step towards achieving food security, industrialization, and sustainable economic growth.
“President Tinubu has genuinely prioritized the best interest of Nigerians over any political electoral calculation. The administration’s reforms may have transient higher cost of living implications challenges, but they are indispensable to securing a more sustainable economy that rewards hard work, innovation, and entrepreneurship.
“Mr President is on course, and will not be distracted by the selfish partisan rambling of some hardened political opportunists and economic exploiters only bent on preserving the old inefficient and permissive economic system that fed them at the expense of the common good of all.
“The best strategic interest of our economy and the good people of Nigeria must continue to trump any and all political or electoral calculations.”
The Minister of Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, on Monday, said he is an asset in ensuring that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, wins his second term in office, 2027 election.
The FCT Minister who stated this in a media chat in Abuja also took a swipe at former Transportation minister Rotimi Amaechi describing him as one hungry for power.
Wike said, the former Governor is a liar, after being a former Speaker, former Governor, former Minister, he was definitely not hungry.
He maintained that the former Rivers state assembly speaker is insulting Nigerians and he is actually hungry for ‘power’.
According to FCT Minister, “Hold on. You are talking about Rotimi Amaechi? Then you have to be specific. I don’t know how a man will choose his 60th birthday to tell lies. It’s unfortunate, of all time it’s your 60th birthday that people are celebrating you, you use it to tell lies to Nigerians. You are hungry.
“Let us tell ourselves this. He was Speaker 1999 to 2007 and if anybody knows he was the most pompous speaker, then he was reading law in London as a speaker. 1999 to 2007. He became a governor 2007 to 2015 he was still reading law in London. Eight years as speaker, Rivers State Assembly, eight years as governor he never talked about hunger.
“He became a minister for 2015, to 2023, eight years, super Minister of Transport, where you are borrowing money for Afroximbank, he didn’t talk about hunger. Two years, you have left office, I am in coalition because I’m hungry.
“You’re only hungry of power. And that shows failure on his part, how do you look this, how do you insult Nigerians? How do you trivialize the issue of hunger or poverty? Why do you do that? You’re insulting Nigerians. You join Atiku, you join El-Rufai because you are hungry. Have you not insulted Nigerians? Is just that you can’t stay out of power. That’s the hunger.
“You can’t stay out of power. How would a man who served 1999 to 2023 will stand before Nigerians, who presided over billions of naira”.
Wike said Amaechi after completing his tenure as Governor of Rivers State, in 2015, couldn’t produce a successor. And he couldn’t give his candidate, Muhammadu Buhari common 25% as a sitting minister in 2019, no president had ever moved with soldiers the way he came with soldiers.
On 2027 election, the FCT Minister said, it is not hidden that he will support President Tinubu’s reelection in 2027, and also lead the campaign in Rivers state, “I came out. You have seen me here. I said, I will support Asiwaju. The way we won other elections that is the way we will win. I’m not a liability. I’m an asset. Whether you agree, you don’t agree, I’m an asset. Whether you want to die, you don’t want to die, I’m an asset. No matter what, you may not like me; your likeness has nothing to do with what am going to do. I’m an asset to making sure that Tinubu wins second tenure.
“Are not aware that I will lead the campaign in Rivers State?” , he said.
