- Wike said Lawal became President Bola Tinubu’s adversary after he was allegedly bypassed for the position of vice president.
The Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, has weighed in on the recent remarks by former Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Babachir Lawal, about President Bola Tinubu.
Lawal recently criticised the Tinubu administration for its performance and governance style.
Wike said Lawal became President Bola Tinubu’s adversary after he was allegedly bypassed for the position of vice president.
“When Mr President chose his vice-presidential candidate, I was one of those Babachir Lawal visited. He came to my house in Port Harcourt. What was his anger?
“His anger was that he thought Mr President would have chosen him as the vice-presidential candidate. Having not done that, he let loose,” Wike said on Channels Television’s Politics Today programme on Tuesday.
According to Wike, Lawal’s discontent was evident from the way he reacted. “It was very clear, we are not kids. Even a child who is intelligent would know where your anger is,” the minister said.
Wike said Lawal disrespected Tinubu with the way he criticised him. He advised that if Lawal had issues with Tinubu, there was “nothing wrong” in addressing them directly with the president.
“There are people I have had respect for; you find out that you are just holding them in high esteem for nothing. While I was a governor, I used to think that people like Babachir Lawal are people you should have respect for, until I started observing things. I never knew that he was not a man you can take for his words,” he stated.
The minister objected to Lawal’s choice of words against the President, saying, “I watched the interview and the unpalatable words he used against Mr President, how he said that Mr President is full of himself. It is really unfortunate.
“A man will come out on national television not to genuinely criticise what Mr President has done wrong, but to accuse him simply because he had a relationship with Mr President before.
“That does not give him the latitude to come on national television to say a President of a country is full of himself. He doesn’t even call him ‘President’; he just says ‘Bola’. If you had a problem with Mr President before he became President, there is nothing wrong with finding a way to sort it out.”