By Ayomide Otitoju
Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, on Monday fired back at a member of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Board of Trustees, Chief Bode George, following criticism over the PDP’s unpaid ground rent which led to the sealing of its national secretariat in Abuja.
Chief George, in a televised interview last week, had questioned Wike’s loyalty to the party, arguing that as a prominent PDP figure, the minister should have personally settled the ₦7 million ground rent to prevent the closure of the party’s Wadata Plaza headquarters.
But during a live interview with select journalists on Monday, Wike dismissed the suggestion, describing George’s remarks as misguided and unconstructive.
“If an old man has no job, he should sit at home and read newspapers,” Wike said pointedly. “I read what he said. Bode George said PDP made me; I agree. But it is individuals who make a party win elections, not the other way around.”
Wike also alleged that George himself owes ground rent to the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA), although he did not provide specific details. He stressed that neither he nor George could settle the PDP’s debt as the property was not registered in their names.
Defending his political record, Wike contrasted his influence in Rivers State with PDP’s limited success in Lagos State, where George hails from.
“Since 1999, who has PDP produced in Lagos? Nobody. In Rivers, we have laboured and delivered victories. Even when Jonathan came, the PDP couldn’t win Lagos,” Wike stated.
George had earlier expressed disappointment that Wike, as an FCTA minister and PDP stalwart, allowed the party headquarters to be sealed over what he described as a minor amount.
“What is ₦7 million? He could have paid it, got the receipt, and returned it to the party with pride. That would have shown loyalty,” George said during an interview on Channels Television’s Politics Today on May 29.
Wadata Plaza was among 4,794 properties sealed by the FCTA last Monday as part of a clampdown on defaulters who had not paid ground rent for periods ranging from 10 to 43 years. Affected entities included government institutions, corporate bodies, and private individuals.
Following President Bola Tinubu’s intervention, a 14-day grace period was granted for defaulters to clear their dues along with penalties.
