Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, has dismissed allegations that the administration of President Bola Tinubu is sponsoring a genocide against Christians in Nigeria, describing such claims as politically motivated falsehoods meant to discredit the government.
Speaking on Politics Today on Channels Television on Monday, Wike said those promoting the narrative of Christian persecution were playing dangerous politics and attempting to incite religious tension.
He said the insecurity across parts of the country was caused by terrorism and banditry, not a deliberate government-backed plot against Christians.
“This is politics taken too far,” Wike said.
He argued that several key figures in the current administration, including the Inspector General of Police, the Director General of the Department of State Services (DSS), the Chief of Defence Staff, and the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, are Christians.
According to him, this makes it illogical to suggest that the government would support the killing of Christians.
“The president I know, whose wife is a senior pastor, will not shut his eyes and allow a particular religion to be eliminated. Certainly not,” he added.
The minister blamed opposition figures and foreign interests for spreading misinformation to weaken the country’s unity and provoke international hostility toward the Tinubu administration.
“Those pushing this narrative are not being sincere. They are trying to do what they did to former President Goodluck Jonathan in 2015. They want to use foreign forces and misinformation to blackmail the government. They want to destroy the image of this country,” Wike said.
He warned that inviting foreign intervention under the guise of protecting religious groups could destabilise Nigeria, citing the aftermath of such actions in Libya, Egypt, and Somalia.
“Look at what happened to Libya and Egypt after foreign intervention. Is that what we want in Nigeria? We need help, yes, but invasion is not the answer,” he stated.
Wike insisted that the Tinubu administration was committed to fighting terrorism and restoring security nationwide, saying more resources had been deployed to security operations than in previous years.
Turning to politics, Wike also addressed the ongoing crisis in the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), saying he would not accept blame for the party’s problems. He described himself as a founding member of the PDP and said those now accusing him of betraying the party were responsible for its decline.
“I didn’t just come into the PDP. I’ve been a bona fide member since 1998. Those who are crying today are the same people who once worked against the party,” Wike said.
He accused the party’s leadership of corruption, lawlessness, and disregard for its constitution while also describing the Acting National Chairman, Umar Damagum, as a “political tax collector” who had turned the PDP into a business venture.
“People like Damagum should be in prison by now. He is very corrupt. He’s a political tax collector. Let him go to court if he doubts what I said,” Wike said.
He said the PDP leadership had ignored the party’s legal and constitutional requirements in its move to hold a national convention and make leadership changes, which eventually led to a court order stopping the exercise.
“What they were doing was not right in law. They wanted to hold a convention without properly notifying INEC or resolving internal disputes as required by the Electoral Act. I warned them, but they ignored it. Now the court has confirmed it.
“You cannot keep violating your own constitution and expect the courts to look away. PDP has become a place where impunity thrives,” Wike said.
He also criticised some of his former allies in the G5 group, which is the five PDP governors who, he said, revolted against the party’s leadership before the 2023 elections.
The G5 comprised Wike, Oyo’s Seyi Makinde, Abia’s Okezie Ikpeazu, Benue’s Samuel Ortom, and Enugu’s Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi.
According to him, the group had demanded that the PDP zone its presidential ticket to the South, arguing that since former President Muhammadu Buhari (a northerner) was completing eight years, it would be unfair for another northerner, Atiku Abubakar, to succeed him.
Wike said all five governors initially agreed to resist Atiku’s candidacy and ensure equity and balance in the party. But according to him, some later betrayed the agreement for personal benefits.
“Some of those who stood with me later betrayed the collective decision we took before the election,” he said, in an apparent reference to Makinde, who later reconciled with Atiku after Tinubu’s victory.
He said such actions exposed the lack of consistency and sincerity in Nigerian politics.
“You can’t say one thing in the day and do another at night. That’s not leadership,” he said.
He also singled out Bayelsa State Governor Douye Diri, who recently defected from the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) to the All Progressives Congress (APC), accusing him of hypocrisy and inconsistency within the PDP.
Wike said Diri, who once condemned him and others for “working with the APC to destroy the PDP,” had now defected from the very party he claimed to protect.
“Remember when Diri was in PDP, he was one of those who said, ‘I’m working for APC to destroy PDP,’” Wike recalled.
“He appeared with Seyi Makinde on Channels Television and said they would not join them to fall into the gutter. I agree. But now, who has fallen deeper into the gutter?” Wike asked.
He added, “He said we are undertakers. I say, assuming without conceding, he should come to me and say, ‘Master, thank you for helping me see the light I never saw before.’”
Wike also criticised former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, the PDP’s 2023 presidential candidate, saying the former vice president’s repeated presidential losses were his own doing.
“Atiku has nowhere to go because he knows he can’t get the ticket with me there,” Wike said.
He accused Atiku of being a serial defector who lacks party loyalty, recalling how he had defected multiple times when things did not go his way.
“He left for the Action Congress, went to the APC, came back to PDP, left again. That’s not loyalty,” Wike said.
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