The All Progressives Congress (APC) stakeholders in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Abuja, have protested alleged exclusion of party members from appointments by the Minister, Nyesom Wike.
The stakeholders accused the Minister of literally importing all his cronies in the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) from Rivers State into the FCT and giving them juicy appointments.
Addressing journalists at the NUJ Secretariat in Abuja, the Convener, Abdulwahab Ekekhide and Co-convener, Obaje Omobolaji David said the party members welcomed the appointment of Wike as the FCT Minister with high hopes.
He, however, regretted that such hopes were being dashed by the Minister’s refusal to engage the party members who are working tirelessly to reposition the party structure in the nation’s capital city.
He said they had expected that the Minister, being a seasoned politician, would empower and strengthen the party to winning ways.
“The reverse became the case, and even worse, as recent appointments have shown. The Minister wants to finally kill and bury the party.
“His agenda, we don’t know, we will resist any further attempts to ridicule the party,” he said.
He listed some of the appointments made by the Minister which were dominated by his PDP friends to include the appointment of the former state chairman of the PDP in Rivers State, Felix Obuah as Coordinator of the Abuja Metropolitan Management Council, and that of the former chairman of PDP in Obio/Akpor Local Government Area, Chidi Amadi, who got appointed as as Chief of Staff to the Minister.
Other appointments being protested by the stakeholders include the Senior Special Adviser Lands, Urban and Regional Planning, Micheal Chinda, and the Senior Special Adviser on Environment and Waste Management, Barivure Fred.
Ekekhide said the reason the APC in the FCT always lost elections was because the Ministers always import strangers who do not belong to any political ward, polling unit or have voting rights/influence in the FCT as appointees of the government.
He said that most of the appointees usually travel to their various states during elections, thereby leaving the FCT dry.
“We call on Mr. President, who is the Governor-General, to call the Minister to order, so that he can retrace his steps and start empowering the party or else, the party will struggle to get two percent for the President in the 2027 presidential election, and may lose the next Area Councils election if the situation remains this way,” he said.
According to Ekekhide, without empowering its leaders and followers, there is no way anyone would expect the party to win elections
When asked if they have brought the matter to the knowledge of the Minister, he said that every effort made by the stakeholders in the FCT to engage him in dialogue over their concerns have been rebuffed.
