Arise Television anchor, Rufai Oseni, has criticised the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, Nyesom Wike, over his recent remarks about the 2027 general election and his role in the 2024 Edo State governorship poll.
Oseni suggested that the minister’s actions reflected the challenges facing the country’s electoral process.
The journalist spoke on Wednesday during the What’s Trending segment of Arise Television’s Morning Show, anchored by Ojy Okpe.
Wike had recently declared that President Bola Tinubu must win the FCT in the 2027 presidential election.
The minister also recounted how he influenced the outcome of the 2024 Edo State governorship election against the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Asue Ighodalo.
Reacting to Wike’s remarks, Oseni said the minister often carried out actions privately before publicly disclosing them.
The Arise TV anchor also accused Wike of allowing his disagreement with former Edo State Governor Godwin Obaseki to influence his position on the state’s governorship election.
Oseni described Wike as a reflection of what he called the deterioration of Nigeria’s electoral system, citing the controversy surrounding election results in Rivers State.
Recalling the 2019 Rivers State governorship election, Oseni questioned why Nigerians appeared surprised by Wike’s latest remarks.
He referred to the election involving the then-governorship candidates, Nyesom Wike and the African Action Congress candidate, Biokpomabo Awara, during which INEC suspended the process before announcing the final result.
Oseni said: “So you know, with Minister Nyesom Wike, he will be the one to do it in private, and he will still be the one to come and tell us in public. That’s how he does it. Nobody will ask him, but he will think he’s bragging to us.
“I don’t know who he thinks he’s bragging to. You have said it with your own mouth, and most of the time, I’m not sure he thinks of the things he says.
“You keep calling for a better Nigeria, to see a better candidate, but because you had a grouse with the person that brought the candidate, you were more concerned about destroying that candidate and not letting him thrive, so that a worse-off candidate would be there. And you keep talking about a better Nigeria?
“So you can see him for yourself. You saw a quality candidate (Asie Ighadalo) that can benefit people in this country, but you subjugated that candidate because of the former governor (Godwin Obaseki). You can see that the joke is on him and not on all of us.
“I keep saying it: Wike doesn’t say what he can’t do. Wike is just a reflection of how bastardised our election system has become.
“I mean, look at what happened in Rivers. Look at what was reported on IReV and what INEC reported. And that’s why I was telling Olisa Agbakoba that it’s as a result of the criminality thing that INEC is saying that they are the only ones to declare results, because of the criminal things that happen in our election process, so that they preserve the sanctity of criminality.
“And when political parties say they have structure, it is the structure of criminality they have. They can’t win elections free and fair.
“You hear a man tell you that because he knows he will muscle his way in. Has he not done it before? Was Awara not leading in the 2019 elections before INEC stopped the election and didn’t count for the next 20-something days?
“So why are we surprised? Wike is a symptom of Nigeria—how bastardised our systems are!
“You see, you Nigerian people, it’s on you. You can hear this and clap and say, ‘Enye ndi eba, enye ndi eba.’ I’m saying it because there are Nigerian people who still support this evil. Those are the ones I’m talking to.
“I keep seeing him beating his chest regarding what he did in the FCT. No, he should not do it. He should wait and leave people to come and do it. As FCT minister, he should keep talking as if it is his money from his pocket that he’s taken to them.
“So, for you Nigerians who keep supporting evil because where you want to chop is your own priority, you keep cowering to these people and everything.
“You see, you will serve their children. In fact, you are already serving their children. Are a lot of people not serving Wike’s children today? You will carry the bags of their children, their children’s children; you will carry their bags. Except you realise, like M.K.O. Abiola said, that the day water drawers and wood hewers know their destiny, that’s the day they start to walk towards the end.
“Except Nigerians realise that you will serve people like this. It’s not a curse, and you will serve them in the next election because they will do it and it will favour them. They are already telling you openly.
“Wike, I keep saying, Wike is not saying something he cannot do. He says something he has done already. So let’s keep deceiving ourselves.”
Election: Wike takes action in private, brags in public – Rufai Oseni