Following the defections of the Enugu State Governor, Peter Mbah, and his Bayelsa counterpart, Duoye Diri, from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the All Progressives Congress (APC), the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, has disclosed that the defections were made possible by him.
Wike said that, though he was criticized by the governors and many who have joined the APC from PDP for accepting to serve as a minister under President Bola Tinubu’s administration, his ability to identify an administration that cares for the masses has paved the way for the former opposition members to join the ruling party ahead of the 2027 election.
The minister stated this on Wednesday during the flag-off of construction of the main carriageways of Outer Southern Expressway (OSEX) from Ring road1 junction to Ring road 11 junction in Abuja.
Although the minister did not mention the names but stated this minutes after news filtered in that the Bayelsa governor has left the opposition party for the APC, saying he laid the foundation for them to leave the PDP for the ruling party in the country.
Wike said: “I am very happy that those who accused me of destabilizing the party after I accepted the President’s appointment as the FCT minister have all left the PDP for the APC. This means that they should commend me for doing a good job for them, making their defection easy.
“I have told people that politics is for mature minds and not kids. I want Governors to be sincere with Nigerians because I was a governor for eight years. During that time, I was running around banks to look for money to complete projects in the state. Sometimes, the money realised will not be enough to pay salaries, do projects as well as others.
“But today, someone has ensured that the state governors do not have to run around banks again to seek loans for completion of projects. One leader has made that possible, ensuring that states does not run on debt. and if on that reason, we should support the president, I believe it is worthwhile.
“This administration (President Tinubu) has made it easy for governors and will make governors not leave debt for their successors. It does not matter the party that the leader belong to. What the country needs is a visionary leadership with bold decisions.
“Whatever we are seeing in the FCT today is due to the purposeful leadership of the president”, he added.
