‘You Cannot Deceive Nigerians’ – Wike Slams ADC, NDC Over Takeover Ambitions

‘You Cannot Deceive Nigerians’ – Wike Slams ADC, NDC Over Takeover Ambitions
He cited disputes during opposition primaries as evidence.
Wike said older parties understand Nigeria’s political environment better.

The Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, has described members of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) and the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) as liars, accusing them of deceiving Nigerians with claims of political reform and democratic renewal.

Wike made the remarks on Monday during his monthly media briefing in Abuja, where he criticised opposition parties over what he described as internal contradictions and a lack of credibility in their recently concluded primary elections.

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EKO HOT BLOG reports that the former Rivers State governor said parties that present themselves as fresh alternatives to the established political order have failed to conduct credible internal elections without controversy.

According to him, the disputes that emerged from the opposition parties’ primaries showed that the same challenges they accuse the ruling parties of fostering also exist within their own ranks.

“They said they are the saviour that will come. What has happened now?

“NDC said we are the new face of democracy. ADC said this kind of party is a party that hasn’t been polluted one day, is a party that God just brought from the womb.

“What has happened? So dirty. See what has happened in the NDC. As small as they are, they cannot do a primary without protest,” Wike said.

Wike also referred to complaints raised during the ADC presidential primary, where some aspirants reportedly rejected the process and questioned its credibility.

“Look at ADC, who said it’s a coalition to take over from APC to stop the distortion of democracy. What has happened?

“While the congress was going on, two presidential aspirants said, ‘we cannot believe that you will perpetrate on this. We have been accusing this party of doing this. Now see what we are doing, see what we have done.’

“So that now tells you, who is deceiving who? Who is coming to Nigeria to tell them lie ‘that we are the new born baby, the messiahs of the time of Nigeria. This is what we want to do.’

“Nigerians have now known you’re all liars. They can’t be using us. They can’t be deceiving us,” he stated.

The FCT minister argued that the opposition parties had failed to demonstrate that they were different from or better than the older political parties they frequently criticise.

“PDP is a dead party, according to you. You’ve said here APC is rotten. They cannot help Nigerian democracy. Just ordinary congress. You have three presidential aspirants, two said ‘this is rubbish, this is criminality to the highest order. Why are we complaining against another party.’

‘You Cannot Deceive Nigerians’ – Wike Slams ADC, NDC Over Takeover Ambitions

“My assessment is that I prefer, from what I’ve seen, the old parties that are running are those that have even tested this environment and have known what Nigerian culture is all about,” Wike added.