By Muhammad Mamman
The Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, has launched another scathing attack on former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, ridiculing his relentless bid for Nigeria’s top seat.
Speaking at his monthly media chat in Abuja on Monday, Wike mocked Atiku’s dogged presidential ambition, asking pointedly whether “the presidency was prescribed as a drug” for him.
The minister’s remarks came in response to Atiku’s criticism of the recent local government elections in Rivers State, which the former vice president dismissed as manipulated by a cabal undermining democracy.
But Wike, a former Rivers governor, hit back, accusing Atiku of hypocrisy. He recalled that Atiku once praised a government that flouted a court injunction to conduct elections, despite his current posturing.
“The Federal High Court stopped the last local government election, yet the government went ahead. Atiku supported it. For someone who once held the number two office in the land, one would expect him to defend the rule of law, regardless of the verdict. Instead, he endorsed illegality,” Wike said.
He went further, portraying Atiku as insubordinate during his years as deputy to President Olusegun Obasanjo.
“I don’t blame Atiku. He was recalcitrant to his boss. He didn’t even know that Obasanjo signed an emergency rule in 2004. If he had worked closely with his boss, he would have known that the president has the power to make regulations in emergency situations,” Wike asserted.
Turning to Atiku’s political trajectory, Wike branded it inconsistent and opportunistic:
“Just look at his record — PDP in 1999, AC in 2007, back to PDP in 2011, then APC in 2014, back to PDP again in 2017, presidential candidate in 2019 and 2023. Now he has moved to ADC for 2027. Tell me, was the presidency prescribed for him like medicine?”
