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The Senior Special Assistant on Public Communications and New Media to the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, Nyesom Wike, Lere Olayinka, has dismissed allegations of anti-party activities against his principal.
Naija News reports that some members of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), have accused Wike of fuelling the crisis in the opposition party after President Bola Tinubu appointed him into his cabinet.
Also, a PDP chieftain, Segun Sowunmi, in a recent interview with Channels Television, claimed that Tinubu was responsible for the opposition party’s internal wranglings.
Sowunmi, a former spokesman of the PDP’s presidential candidate in the 2023 election, Atiku Abubakar, said Tinubu has no business appointing Wike as Minister of FCT, without consulting with the party’s elders.
However, in an interview with Daily Post, Olayinka countered critics, insisting that Wike is not working for the All Progressives Congress (APC) but only serving the nation.
Olayinka lamented that critics failed to understand the difference between the parliamentary system of government and the presidential system of government.
The Minister’s spokesperson explained that Wike informed the PDP members before accepting Tinubu’s appointment.
He said, “Wike is not working for APC, Wike is working for Nigeria. He is working for the government of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
“It is only in the parliamentary system of government that the formation of the cabinet is restricted to the party that controls the majority in the parliament.
“What is anti-party activity? Someone that informed his party that he was going to be appointed as minister by the ruling party and they didn’t raise objections?.
“When it is time to play politics, we play politics. We had an election last year and one person won. That chapter has ended. Right now, it is time for governance. President Tinubu saw the potential in the FCT Minister and gave him an appointment.”
Making reference to the recent appointment of Atiku’s former aide, Daniel Bwala as Tinubu’s Special Adviser on Public Communication and Media, Olayinka said Wike’s membership of Tinubu’s cabinet makes no difference.
He said, “This is the same way he gave people appointments from other parties, even people who once insulted him.
“What role did Daniel Bwala play in the last election? He was Atiku’s spokesman. Atiku funded him and he said several negative things against the president and now he is a special adviser to the president. How is that of Wike different?”
Asked if Wike would support a PDP candidate in the 2027 election, Olayinka said, the party neither have a candidate or aspirant at the moment.
He added, “When we get to the bridge, we will cross it.
“Currently, the party doesn’t have a candidate or even an aspirant. This is time for governance and not politics”.
