The Minister of the FCT, Nyesom Wike, believes the newly formed coalition is ill-equipped to address the challenges facing the country, describing members of the group as buccaneers.
Opposition politicians including ex-Vice President Atiku Abubakar, Peter Obi of the Labour Party (LP); a former Senate President David Mark; ex-governor of Kaduna State, Nasir El-Rufai, are some of the leading figures in the coalition which had adopted the African Democratic Congress (ADC) as its platform to unseat Bola Tinubu’s government.
However, Wike is unfazed by the development, which many in the political space have described as a tsunami.
“No, that’s not a tsunami,” the FCT minister said on Friday’s edition of Channels Television’s Politics Today. “There’s no tsunami. The buccaneers and vampires—we have sent them away.”
Rebuild Crumbling Pillars of Democracy
Talks about a coalition have been brewing in the past months. But on Tuesday, members of the group adopted the ADC as their party for the 2027 elections.
They appointed Mark as the ADC interim chairman and a former minister of Interior, Rauf Aregbesola, as secretary.
In his acceptance speech, Mark said the coalition is poised to restore the country’s democracy and stop Nigeria from turning into a one-party state.
“Let it be known to all that this coalition of national political opposition groups goes beyond gaining political power. It is a concerted effort to rebuild the crumbling pillars of Nigeria’s democracy,” he said.
“The mission is clear: Rescue Nigeria. Rebuild Nigeria. Return power to the people,” Mark added.
Tinubu Took Over ‘Economy that Was Gone’
Members of the coalition accused the Tinubu-led government of destroying the economy and pushing more Nigerians into poverty.
Wike, however, accused the opposition politicians of pursuing a personal agenda and defended the policies of the administration.
“He took over, he took over an economy that was gone. Was totally gone,” Wike said on the show.
The minister claimed, “Nigeria was ready to be buried. Luckily, it has not been buried. Someone [Tinubu] came and said, ‘No, I will not allow you to be buried’.”
Wike’s comment came a day after a former Rivers Governor, Rotimi Amaechi, claimed Tinubu’s government “buried” Nigeria’s economy.
“The current government has completely buried the economy. Any economy that does not put money in the pockets of individuals in Nigeria is not an economic policy,” Amaechi said when featured on Thursday’s edition of Channels Television’s Politics Today.
