Quest for justice reason I, G5 Govs supported Tinubu for President – Wike
FAVOUR ISHEMBER, Abuja
Federal Capital Territory (FCT) minister, Barr. Ezenwo Nyesom Wike on Friday, reiterated his commitment to the success of the Bola Tinubu administration even as he explained that the quest for justice was the key reason the Group of five (G5) governors of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP supported the presidential ambition of Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
Wike, who stated this in an interview with newsmen in Abuja, Friday said he would not contest against President Tinubu should he seek re-election in 2027.
According to him, good character should never be compromised on the altar of politics.
He explained that having worked for the emergence of Tinubu as President, and having been made minister of FCT, nothing would make him contest against the President in 2027.
“Tinube made me the FCT minister and I won’t allow anybody to crumble our political structure. No! He stressed.
“Tinubu made me minister, people don’t understand, I have character. What will happen in 2027? I stood and I said I’m not going to support injustice. I was threatened that they will do me this and that. They tried many options including using Major Generals.”
Asked for an update on his face-off with Governor Siminalayi Fubara of Rivers State, Wike who initially said he didn’t want to talk about the matter later declared:
“Give a man power and money, that is when you will know the person. If you have not given a man power and money don’t say you know the person.
“He may be your friend, he may be your son, sister or mother or father. I don’t want to go into that” he stressed.
He lamented that Fubara could seek to destroy the structure which produced him as governor just within three months of his emergence as governor.
“In three months, it is sad for someone to scatter a political structure that supported and bring you up.
You know what is painful? All these allegations, I smile. Who and who sat with him? In all your doings be grateful in your life no matter the circumstance. Nobody who is a gentleman and a politician will support this kind of thing.”
On his major achievements as governor of Rivers State, Wike said: “I was paying pensioner’s gratuity every month which were not paid by my predissersor. I took Rivers State to the level where you cannot discuss politics in Nigeria without Rivers State.I was an ordinary minister when I became a governor. I challenged the siting governor and I defeated his condidate. I worked hard.”
On the new requirements for acquisition of land in the Federal Capital Territory particularly the introduction of National Identity Number (NIN) and Biometric Verification Number (BVN) to obtain Certificate of Occupancy (C of O), the minister said the new features were for security and revenue generation.
He also noted that existing land owners in the capital must get recertification to incorporate these new features.
“There are a lot of discrepancies, a lot of cloning of C-of-Os, so we have come up with an idea that every allottee who seeks and applies for a C-of-O must supply his NIN; this is one of the features we are going to put in the new C-of-O,” the Minister explained.
“If a corporate body doesn’t have an NIN and they have a property, they must put their BVN. So many persons have not registered, and this will make them go and re-register.”
Wike said the FCT Administration had decided to reduce the fee for the issuance of Certificate of Occupancy from N5 million to N3.5 million
On the issue of existing landlords with C-of-Os, Wike stated that they would only be required to pay a nominal fee for recertification.
“For everyone who has a C-of-O, they will come for a recertification, so that we can incorporate the NIN or BVN,” he stated.
“Those who had a C-of-O before don’t need to pay money again; the highest they can pay is N50,000, and corporate bodies will pay N100,000. It helps in terms of security; it also helps to improve our revenue generation.”
“There are people who own seven properties, so this will identify them so they can pay taxes.”
Wike further stated that another benefit of this initiative is to identify property owners accurately for tax purposes.
Wike explained that since assumption of office his administration had increased the Internally Generated Revenue of the FCT from N14billion to over N20billion.
He further stated that the N61billion Supplementary Budget is targeted at funding specific projects in the territory.
He commended President Tinubu for approving the exemption of the FCT from the Single Treasury Account which will enable the Territory fulfil its responsibilities.
For a better society
—————————————————————–
Kindly follow us across all our social media platforms to stay up-to-date with the latest news and happenings in Nigeria and across the globe.
Facebook – https://facebook.com/championnewsonline
Instagram – https://instagram.com/championnewsonline
Twitter– @championnewsng