The Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, has said he played a key role in making the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) strong and popular both at the national and state levels.
Wike made this statement during his monthly media chat in Abuja on Monday.
He was responding to recent criticism by Chief Bode George, a member of the PDP Board of Trustees. George had spoken against the sealing of the PDP National Secretariat in Abuja.
Wike explained that the property was sealed due to unpaid ground rent, which neither he nor the party could pay because the building was not legally in their names.
“I cannot pay because, first of all, it is not in my name. They cannot pay because the property is not in their name,” Wike said.
He also took a swipe at Bode George, saying, “If an elderly man has no job, he should sit at home and read his newspapers.”
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Wike admitted that the PDP gave him a national profile but argued that it is hard work, not just party membership, that wins elections.
“Bode George said PDP made me by giving me a national profile, and I agree. But the party does not make you; you are the one who makes the party win elections,” he said.
“Ask Bode George, whom PDP has made popular — what has he done in Lagos since? You are speaking to someone who has worked and campaigned hard to make PDP a major political force at both the state and national levels,” Wike added.
He also said that even during former President Goodluck Jonathan’s time in office, efforts were made to help the PDP gain more power, but those efforts did not succeed.