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Wike rubbishes reports of 2027 presidential ambition
The Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, has refuted media claims that some leaders of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) are urging him to contest the 2027 presidential election.
In a statement issued on Saturday by his Senior Special Assistant on Public Communications and Social Media, Lere Olayinka, the minister dismissed the reports as fabrications by individuals seeking to create unnecessary political tension.
“Report circulated by an online platform that is notorious for falsehood and blackmail that a meeting was held by some leaders of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to ‘push’ the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Minister, Nyesom Wike, to run for President in 2027, has been described as ‘another lie from idle minds who have nothing to contribute to the development of the country,’” the statement read.
READ ALSO: Wike breaks silence on governors’ defection to APC
Olayinka reaffirmed Wike’s loyalty to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, emphasizing that his political alignment remains unchanged.
“As far as Wike is concerned, it is President Bola Ahmed Tinubu till 2031,” he stressed.
He further described the online publication as a “cheap attempt” by political detractors to malign the minister’s reputation.
“Wike does not function in hiding. He does what he says and says what he does. It is shameful that the ‘pull-Wike-down’ elements could not reason beyond such kindergarten tactics. It is clear that they need better brains to think for them,” Olayinka said.
He clarified that the only PDP meeting held on August 20, 2025, was a Southern stakeholders’ session convened to discuss internal zoning matters, not a presidential bid.
“The only meeting that took place on August 20, 2025, was that of PDP stakeholders from Southern part of Nigeria, and the purpose was the meeting scheduled for Lagos on August 21, 2025, by some elements to rubberstamp a decision to micro-zone party positions zoned to the South,” the statement noted.
The statement listed those who signed the related communiqué, including PDP state chairmen from Imo, Abia, Cross River, Akwa Ibom, and Rivers; National Vice Chairman (South-East) Hon. Chidiebere Egwu Goodluck; and Minority Leader of the House of Representatives Hon. O. K. Chinda, among others.
“Outcome of the meeting was made public via a press statement titled; ‘Re: Purported Meeting Of PDP Southern Zoning Consultative Summit,’ signed by State Party Chairmen… Obviously, the above names were picked from the press statement published in all major newspapers and aired on national television stations to advance the latest mischief,” Olayinka stated.
He reiterated that Wike’s commitment remains steadfast to the Tinubu administration and its Renewed Hope Agenda.
“He has said it clearly that from now till 2031, it is on the mandate of Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu that he will stand.”
According to Olayinka, Wike remains focused on executing the President’s infrastructural and developmental agenda for the FCT.
“To ensure the success of the President’s re-election, Wike will continue to deliver on the Renewed Hope Agenda in the FCT by actualising the visions of the President for a federal capital city that can compete with other capital cities in the world in terms of infrastructural development,” he added.
The echoes of the drums rolled out to celebrate the rescue of the 44 teachers and students, kidnapped from some schools in Oyo State, after 56 days in the bush, would surely be disrupted abruptly, with the divergent echoes of a fresh abduction, this time coming from Kogi State.
Reports indicate that the gunmen, struck on Tuesday at the Government Secondary School, Odo-Ekina, in Dekina Local Government Area of the state, abducting four students, the school principal and a National Examinations Council (NECO) ad hoc staff member.
Authorities of the Kogi State Police Command, who immediately unleashed their operatives in hot pursuit of the abductors, said the attack occurred at about 5:25 p.m. while the students were writing their NECO examination.
Saliu Oyiza Afusat, an Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) and spokesman of the command, said a combined team of police personnel and other security agencies has launched a search-and-rescue operation following the incident.
Informing that one of the students was actually rescued immediately, she said efforts were ongoing to secure the release of the remaining victims and apprehend the attackers, adding that Naziru Bello Kankarofi, the state Commissioner of Police, alongside the Brigade Commander and the State Security Adviser to the Governor, Commodore Jerry Omodara (Rtd), were already on the way to the scene for an on-the-spot assessment.
Oil prices are expected to go down now with the announcement of Donald Trump, US President that he will no longer impose a 20 percent “safe passage” fee on ships passing through the Strait of Hormuz.
The POTUS, hinged his reversal of the decision on the intervention from some Gulf countries, who pleaded with him not to toe the line due to the massive economic impact the decision would make on the region.
Indeed, oil prices had shot up immediately Trump announced the new levy on Monday while declaring the US ‘the guardians of the Hormuz strait,’ a measure which he said was to pay for the cost of guarding the volatile area in order keep supply of oil flowing.
Reports said that Gulf allies of the US worked frantically to get Trump on the phone in time to talk him out of the idea altogether, while a flurry of appeals came from Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Qatar.
In response, the POTUS, posting on his Truth Social platform, wrote: “Based on highly productive conversations with Middle East leadership, I have decided to replace the 20% United States Reimbursement Fee with Trade and Investment Deals that the various Gulf States will be making into the United States.”
Trump, who said the investments would be “MASSIVE but, at the same time, extraordinarily good for them, and their future,” added that the deals would see factories, plants, and equipment pour into the US at “Historic levels.”
The Gulf nations have committed to invest trillions of dollars in the US, though it remains unclear how much of that they will actually spend over the next several years.
Meanwhile, the US continues to bomb Iran in what appears to be a resumption of active conflict between both countries, despite an ongoing roadmap to end the conflict.
Reports say operatives of the Osun State Police Command, and those of the Department of State Services (DSS) had tracking the trail of Adeniyi Adeyemi, controversial Director General of the Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council (PFIPC), for weeks, before he was eventually pulled out of his hole on Tuesday.
However, the duo, were said to have pulled back after failing to track him through his mobile phones, which he had reportedly switched off for about two days, making it difficult to locate him, leaving the stage for the members of the Police Intelligence Response Team (PI-RT) led by Moses Lohor, a Chief Superintendent of Police (CSP).
Lohor, said to have previously served as the Commander of the Anti-Kidnapping Squad of Osun State, and reported to have been involved in high-profile security operations and controversies, after taken over fielded his men to pick up signals from their well-oiled signal networks.
Regarded by many Osun residents as one of the key security officers who contributed significantly to the peace and stability enjoyed in Ilesa and other parts of the state during his tenure, he was said to have relied on his contacts before his transfer out of the state, said to have raised concerns from the public about the security situation he would be leaving behind.
His exit from the state was said to be hinged on an incident in 2024, in which he allegedly shot one Iyanda Alowonle, then Chairman of Osun State Motor Transport System, in the stomach at the police station in the state prompting an order for his arrest by then Inspector General of Police (IGP).
His effort was said to have paid off when he successfully tracked down the controversial PFIPC, boss, who was seen on Tuesday evening, in a shot video on social media undergoing interrogation, and eventually handed him over to Ibrahim Gotan, Commissioner of Police in the state.
The PUNCH quoted one of the sources as saying: “The arrest (of Adeyemi) took place on Tuesday morning by the IRT squad, who immediately moved him to Abuja. After he was arrested, he was taken to Ibadan and from there to Abuja.”
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