The Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, on Wednesday, stated that President Bola Tinubu’s infrastructure achievements in Abuja can guarantee his political future, stating the President should “sleep with his two eyes closed.”
Speaking during the official commissioning of Arterial Road N5 in Abuja, on Wednesday, the minister maintained that if governance and infrastructural transformation are the true yardsticks for electoral return, the Tinubu administration has already secured its footing in the nation’s capital.
“If indeed we want to say governance is what will make people to return you to come back to office… I don’t think Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu should be sleeping and keeping one of his eyes open. No, he should sleep, and his two eyes closed,” Wike stated.
“I challenge everybody in this FCT, who can come out to say we don’t have the impact, we don’t feel the presence of government. These people who are carrying placards here… if people send you to go back and carry placards, it will not work,” he added.
Reflecting on the hurdles faced during the construction of the road, Wike explained that the project hit a standstill when construction giant Julius Berger was blocked by community members demanding compensation over structural demolitions.
He said, “When we are doing this road, and thank God, it’s good to come out and know what is happening, not to be in the office. That time, Julius Berger was having a problem. The community said they would not do the road because they have not been compensated for the demolition.
“I came down by my humble self and addressed the communities on the road, and they said they have not been compensated… The Director of Settlement and Compensation said some people are saying that they are indigenous, but that they are paying those who have houses.
“I said, we are only paying those that we have demolished their properties. We are not paying because you belong to the so-and-so community. We pay you money because we are doing a project. It is those who have properties along the line where development is taking place that we have to pay.”
Issuing a direct challenge to the aggrieved groups, the minister insisted that the Federal Capital Territory Administration fulfilled its financial obligations to every verified property owner affected by the clearance, vowing that his administration would not misuse public funds to satisfy entitlement sentiment.
“And I want to say clearly, we paid. We paid,” the Minister asserted. “I want to challenge anybody who has a property along this line that was not paid.
“So if you are saying that development has passed and the government did not dash you money, we will not dash you money when we are carrying out development. If you say you have property and it was demolished, and you were not paid, come and say so. I challenge anybody. It is not correct.”
Wike reportedly emphasised that a considerable portion of completed projects under the present administration were inherited from previous governments but were continued and delivered rather than abandoned.
