The Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, Nyesom Wike, has accused former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, former Rivers State Governor Rotimi Amaechi and former Anambra State Governor Peter Obi of deceiving Nigerians with their campaign strategies.
Wike made the allegation on Thursday while speaking at his induction into the Idoma Hall of Fame in Abuja.
He accused the politicians of attempting to portray themselves as humble and connected to ordinary Nigerians by buying corn and groundnuts from roadside vendors, purchasing fuel at filling stations and celebrating birthdays at camps for internally displaced persons (IDPs).
According to Wike, such actions were attempts to win public sympathy ahead of elections.
“You know politicians can tell lies. Yes, a man who, as a governor, never celebrated his birthday in IDP camps, now wants to do it there because he wants to be president. And you’ll say he’s humble. Which humility is that?
“You see a man who has never eaten corn by the roadside. He goes, buys corn and groundnuts, and says he relates with poor people. Who are you deceiving?
“You were a governor and you didn’t buy corn on the road. Now you want to be president. When they vote for you, will you still go and buy corn on the road? Who are you deceiving?
“You enter your car and go to a filling station and say, ‘Oh, look at the cost of fuel.’ Do you need to go there before you know the cost? And then some of you will say, ‘Oh, these are the type of people we want, very humble, you see the way he drove himself.’”