Kingibe criticises Wike’s appointment as Tinubu’s worst error, citing autocratic rule, land misuse, and disregard for legal frameworks in the FCT
Kingibe criticises Wike’s appointment as a grave political misjudgment by President Bola Tinubu, citing autocratic governance, legal breaches, and deepening discontent in the Federal Capital Territory.
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Senator Ireti Kingibe, who represents the FCT in the National Assembly, has described the appointment of Nyesom Wike as Minister of the Federal Capital Territory as a critical political blunder by President Tinubu.
Speaking in a televised interview on Monday, she declared the move not only ill-advised but also damaging to governance in the capital.
“It is my personal opinion that that is rather unfortunate, because if I were making a list of all the things that President Tinubu has done wrong, the greatest wrong he’s done to himself, the thing that has demarcated him the most, has been on Minister Wike,” she said during her appearance on ARISE Television.
Kingibe criticised Wike for governing the FCT in what she described as an autocratic and lawless manner.
According to her, his refusal to adhere to due process has undermined the rule of law and institutions in the territory.
“The minister doesn’t obey the rule of law. He is autocratic. He doesn’t follow any rules or any laws. And when you try to draw his attention to the fact that governance is based on the rule of law, he doesn’t accept that,” she stated.
She accused Wike of reintroducing defunct agencies without legal backing and bypassing the legislative process.
“If he wants these things, he should ask the National Assembly to create the enabling laws. But he doesn’t, because he just feels he can do anything,” she added.
Kingibe offered examples of controversial decisions, including the revocation of land belonging to the University of Abuja.
She claimed Wike illegally repossessed 7,000 out of the university’s 11,000 hectares, which she argued violates the Land Use Act.
She also cited land in Bwari initially reserved for a general hospital that Wike allegedly converted to a private development.
The senator further accused the minister of mass layoffs, particularly targeting indigent women who relied on street sweeping jobs for income.
“Every minister has come and found the streets being cleaned by indigent women… He comes, he’s fired them all. Then he doesn’t replace them with mechanical street sweepers. So Abuja is looking dirty,” she lamented.
In addition, Kingibe said hundreds of small indigenous contractors have gone unpaid for services rendered before Wike’s appointment.
“Maybe about four or five hundred of them… he says, no, he’s not paying them. He didn’t give them the job,” she alleged.
She also expressed concern over the minister’s financial dealings, particularly his use of funds from the Treasury Single Account and internally generated revenue without oversight.
“He’s never accounted for anything,” she said, stressing that she would pursue the matter through legal and legislative means.
“I’m going to take those documents and go to the body, the equivalent of his state assembly, and insist that the president from whom Wike derives his powers goes back to the National Assembly for approval for everything,” Kingibe declared.
Asked if she feared retaliation, Kingibe said she was undeterred and secure in her mandate.
“I’m definitely not afraid of him… he should be aware that most things he does, I will know.”
The senator concluded with an account of a suspicious incident involving a vehicle trailing her after a legislative visit to Sokoto, but she insisted her faith in God gives her courage.
Also read: Tinubu Says Renewed Hope Agenda Impact Now Visible Through Wike’s Bold Projects
With her outspoken remarks, Kingibe criticises Wike appointment not just as a policy misstep but as a danger to good governance, promising to hold the minister and presidency accountable.
