ENUGU, Nigeria (VOICE OF NAIJA)- The Minister of Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Chief Nyesom Wike, has mocked some of his adversaries describing them sarcastically as notorious pretenders making the Guinness Book of Records under false pretences.
He said this at the weekend during the 60th birthday celebration of the National Chairman (Southsouth) of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Chief Victor Giadom, in Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital.
Wike at the event, which attracted leaders across party lines, said Giadom was not a pretender and was not fashioned like some persons, who failed to reveal their true identities as snakes.
He said: “Even though we were of different parties, Victor had never gone on television to abuse any of his friends. He doesn’t allow politics to be a wedge between him and his friends. He plays politics and still remains with you.
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“Victor is someone who will tell you he will be with you, and he will be with you. Victor is not a pretender. He is not one of those who have made the Guinness Book of Records as pretenders. There are those who have made the Guinness Book of Records by pretending. Nobody knew that they were snakes.
“Victor could tell you: ‘I will not do this’, and he will not do it. He will tell you: ‘I will do this’, and he will do it. I know his children and his wife.
“He has been my good friend, and I like to associate with people who remember tomorrow. I like those who will not forget when things were not good to them. Victor is not somebody who gives excuses.”
Wike recalled that he had known Victor as a grateful person since he (Wike) was Chairman of Obio-Akpor Local Government Area.
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“He left us and went to the other side. Unfortunately for him, since he left us, he had not won any election again. It is on record since 2015. Victor had not won any election.
“But because he came to us again in 2023, he now won an election. Victor remembers his friends. I thank God Almighty for what he has done for his family,” he said.
The former governor stressed that he remained a member of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), though the lawmakers in the state had joined the APC.
Vice President Kassim Shettima, represented by the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Agribusiness and Productivity Enhancement in the Office of the Vice President, Dr. Kingsley Uzoma, commended Wike and other personalities who had worked in Rivers State for President Bola Tinubu’s victory in last year’s general election.
Acknowledging the hardship in the land, Shettima urged Nigerians to exercise a little more patience, insisting that the President was moving in the right direction.
He said: “President Bola Ahmed Tinubu is today the President of the country. We are quite happy for the support we got from here. It is true that times are difficult everywhere. But I appeal that we have a little patience because for the first time Nigeria is actually challenging the problems.
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“Nigeria has been mismanaged for quite a while. It is time to make it right. It is true that there had to be sacrifice for anything that is going to be good. Inflation that is biting the world round is not just in Nigeria.
“What is happening is a call to service. We need to raise our productivity and the moment we do our nation will be respected. I assure you that the government of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu is going in the right direction and will deliver all his promises.”
Other dignitaries present at the event included APC National Chairman Abdullahi Ganduje; the party’s national and state leadership; Cross River State Governor Bassey Edet Otu; Minister of Petroleum (Oil) Senator Heineken Lokpobiri; Rivers State House of Assembly Speaker Martinn Amaewhule; other lawmakers, senators, members of the House of Representatives, and traditional rulers.