- Safiu Kehinde
The Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Minister, Nyesom Wike, has claimed that the former Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Babachir Lawal, is angry with President Bola Tinubu for not choosing him as his Vice President.
Wike made the claim while reacting to the former SGF’s recent criticism of the Tinubu-led administration which he labelled as unapproachable.
Speaking on Channels TV’s Politics Today programme on Tuesday, the FCT Minister disclosed how Babachir had, during the 2023 Presidential campaign, visited him at his residence to express his displeasure with Tinubu over his choice of Vice-Presidential candidate which he thought would be him.
Wike maintained that the ex-SGF’s criticism of the President was borne out of the anger.
“If you have a problem with Mr. President before he became the President, there is nothing wrong in you finding a way to sort out that problem.
“Take for example, when Mr. President chose the Vice-Presidential candidate, today the Vice President of the country, I was one of those that Babachir visited. He came to my house in Port Harcourt, Ada George in particular.
“He came with one of the former Speakers of the House of Representatives. What was his anger? His anger was that he thought that Mr. President would have chosen him as the Vice-Presidential candidate.
“Having not done that, heaven will have to let loose. It was very clear. At least we are not kids. Even a kid who is intelligent will know where his anger is from the way you are speaking. That is not enough.” He said.
On his recent criticism of the President being unapproachable, Wike held that Tinubu cannot attend directly to all Nigerians which explained the presence of the ministers and aides.
“When he said Mr. President is unapproachable, government is not approachable, who do you call government? I’m a Minister in charge of the Federal Capital Territory. Mr Z is a Minister in charge of Interior. Mrs O. is a minister in charge of Trade, Investment and Industry.
“Must everybody reach Mr. President? Is that the way government runs? If everybody in this country did not reach out to the Ministers but only Mr. President, how many people can Mr. President see at a time?” Wike asked.