Youths on Friday staged a protest at the national secretariat of the All Progressives Congress (APC), calling on President Bola Tinubu to remove Nyesom Wike, Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), over alleged disrespect to party leaders.
The protesters carried placards with messages such as “President Tinubu, sack Wike now,” “Stop disrespecting APC members,” “No minister is above APC,” and “APC no be Wike property.”
The demonstration followed a public disagreement between Wike and Ajibola Basiru, APC national secretary, regarding political activities in Rivers State. Basiru had urged Wike to resign from his ministerial position and focus on his official duties, describing his preoccupation with Rivers politics as an “obsession.” He emphasized that all members of the APC national working committee must show respect to sitting governors as party leaders in their states.
In response, Wike warned Basiru to stay out of Rivers State politics, asserting during a stakeholders’ meeting in Oyigbo LGA on January 5 that the state is “a no-go area” for interference from outsiders.
The FCT minister has also reportedly opposed the re-election of Siminalayi Fubara following the governor’s defection from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the APC in December, accusing him of reneging on an earlier agreement reached before the lifting of emergency rule in Rivers State.
