By Jane Okafor, Abuja
Furious Minister of the Federal Capital Territory FCT, Nyesom Wike, has declared that the Labour Party’s 2023 presidential candidate, Mr. Peter Gregory Obi, “will remain a social media President” of Nigeria in perpetuity.
Obi declared his 2027 presidential ambition in July 2025 and emphasized a single-term pledge if elected President.
But Wike who was livid that the former Governor of Anambra State allegedly plays politics with everything, even to a ridiculous extent, said that a Peter Obi who couldn’t manage a political party – apparently referring to the crisis – ridden Labour Party – should not be expected to manage a complex country like Nigeria.
He spoke on Thursday in Abuja during the commissioning of a road project at the FCT and used the occasion to fire back at Obi for criticising the state of some public schools within the FCT.
The former Governor of Anambra State had during his recent visit to LEA Primary School in Kapwa, Abuja, taken a swipe at the FCT administration over what he called the appalling condition of public schools in the FCT, describing it as a national disgrace that exposes the nation’s hollow commitment to education.
However, Wike challenged him to come out publicly and compare what he did for 8 years in Anambra with what the current administration of the FCT had done in just two years.
He said, “The road we are commissioning today, it was a responsible citizen who called our attention to it and I’m happy that citizen is also here today. There is one social media man who calls himself presidential candidate, he went to one school in FCT and said we did not provide toilets for them.
“Imagine. He plays politics with everything. When he was governor for 8 years, did he develop the entire Anambra? Instead he carried the state’s money and put in his bank. His name is Peter Obi. And that is why his successors have been struggling.
“In eight years, instead of developing Anambra, you took the money and put it in a bank you have an interest in, Fidelity Bank. So that profit will be coming, and Anambra would be suffering.
“You cannot be President of Nigeria only when you go to one IDP for a birthday party. When you were a governor, why didn’t you do your birthday party in an IDP camp?
“It is now you want to be president that every day you say, ‘I’m going to do my birthday with the less privileged.’ Who do you want to deceive? Enough is enough.
“You run as president under a party and you cannot manage it, an ordinary party. You can know a good dancer from the first step.
“An ordinary party of how many people? It is in crisis. You can’t hold it together, but you want to manage a complex nation like Nigeria. It’s not for people like you.
“I challenge him to come out publicly and compare what he did for 8 years in Anambra with what we have done in the FCT in just two years. Someone who cannot manage a political party as a presidential candidate is talking about managing a complex country like Nigeria. He will remain a social media president….”
‘One shoe, one wristwatch’ story won’t help Obi in 2027 – Lere Olayinka
Similarly, Lere Olayinka, Senior Special Assistant to the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Minister, Nyesom Wike, also flayed Obi, mockingly cautioning him against dragging the Minister into his Anambra style of mad man advice induced Beer Parlour Development.
Olayinka in a statement, advised Obi to rescue himself from the political wilderness that he is presently, rather than jumping up and down, seeking media attention, by turning himself into critics of everything, including the most ridiculous.
Wike’s aide, who said the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) under Wike, was not operating the kind of “Mad Man Advice Induced Beer Parlour Development” that Obi did in Anambra State for eight years, added that; “In the FCT, real and verifiable development is taking place.
“73 schools are presently being renovated across the six Area Councils in the FCT, while 21 have been completely renovated.”
While admitting that there are still schools in the FCT deserving attention of the government, Olayinka said; “Unlike Obi, who did nothing to uplift the education sector as Governor of Anambra State, the Wike-led FCTA has been building and renovating schools.
“102 contracts have been awarded for renovation of schools in the FCT, and as at today, 21 schools have been completely renovated and works are ongoing in others.”
He challenged Obi to tell Nigerians how many schools he built in Anambra when he was governor, adding that “If as Governor of Anambra State, he had performed the same magic he has been lying to Nigerians he could perform in four years, Anambra State would have become a reference point in terms of development.
“As Governor of Anambra State for eight years, he chose to keep the State’s money in his own bank instead of using the money to build schools, roads, hospitals and other critical infrastructure.
“Today, Anambra State is still suffering for Obi’s eight years of mad man advice induced misgovernance, with his successors trying to fix the rot he left behind.
“The same Obi said yesterday that he can change the trajectory of Nigeria in four years and I am challenging him to show Nigerians how he changed that of Anambra State in eight years.”
Describing Obi as Internally Displaced Politician (IDP), looking for a permanent abode in the media space, the FCT Minister’s Spokesperson said; “It is funny that someone who should be bothered that he does not have a platform to contest the 2027 election, has turned himself to a political wonderer.”
Olayinka asked; “Under which party is Mr One Shoe contesting the 2027 presidential election? Will any party still award its presidential candidate to him simply because he can lie about having one shoe and one wrist watch the way the Labour Party did in 2023?”
