{"id":123061,"date":"2025-10-21T15:49:38","date_gmt":"2025-10-21T14:49:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/?p=123061"},"modified":"2025-10-21T15:49:38","modified_gmt":"2025-10-21T14:49:38","slug":"wike-defends-projects-taunts-obi","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/news\/wike-defends-projects-taunts-obi\/","title":{"rendered":"Wike Defends Projects, Taunts Obi"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>By Oscar Okhifo, Abuja<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, has fired back at Labour Party\u2019s 2023 presidential candidate, Peter Obi, over his recent criticism of the state of public schools and infrastructure in Abuja, the nation&#8217;s capital.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>Wike, who spoke on Thursday , while commissioning Esther Bali Street and Kez Udezue Street in Mabushi District, described Obi\u2019s comments as unnecessary and politically motivated.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>The minister said it was wrong for the former Anambra governor to condemn conditions in the FCT on social media instead of privately alerting relevant authorities.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>\u201cIf you are a responsible citizen, you don\u2019t merely post complaints on social media. You call government attention when you see something amiss and we will respond. If I were you, I\u2019d be quiet,\u201d Wike said.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>He accused Obi of lacking the moral standing to criticise others, alleging that during his eight years as governor, he hoarded state funds in banks instead of using them for development projects.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>\u201cWhen you were governor, what did you do for your people? You kept their money in banks instead of using it to build roads and schools. Now you are talking about FCT schools, please, be quiet,\u201d he added.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>Wike also took a swipe at what he called \u201csocial media presidency,\u201d warning that public gestures such as celebrating birthdays in internally displaced persons\u2019 camps would not make Obi president.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>\u201cYou don\u2019t become president by celebrating birthdays in IDP camps. Leadership is about work, not show,\u201d the minister said.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>He defended his administration\u2019s record, stating that 73 public schools across the FCT were undergoing renovation, with 21 completed, while 102 educational projects had been awarded to improve learning standards.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>The face-off between Wike and Obi adds to the growing tension among political leaders ahead of the 2027 elections, with Wike\u2014still a member of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)\u2014increasingly clashing with opposition figures since joining President Bola Tinubu\u2019s administration.<\/div>\n<!-- AddThis Advanced Settings generic via filter on the_content --><!-- AddThis Share Buttons generic via filter on the_content --><!-- AddThis Related Posts generic via filter on the_content -->","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By Oscar Okhifo, Abuja Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, has fired back at Labour Party\u2019s 2023 presidential candidate, Peter Obi, over his recent criticism of the&hellip;<!-- AddThis Advanced Settings generic via filter on wp_trim_excerpt --><!-- AddThis Share Buttons generic via filter on wp_trim_excerpt --><!-- AddThis Related Posts generic via filter on wp_trim_excerpt --><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":123064,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-123061","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.8 - 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