Former Rivers State Governor Nyesom Wike in a press conference yesterday in Abuja revealed that he accepted to serve as  the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), under President Bola Tinubu because of the latter’s capacity and political will.

He said that leadership is one of Nigeria’s biggest problems and that many people are afraid to take action. “One of the reasons I accepted to work with Mr. President is because of his capacity and the political will to do those things that people are afraid of doing,” Wike said.

He cited the example of the law establishing a civil service commission for the FCT, which was enacted in 2018 but had not been implemented until Tinubu became president. “In 2018, the National Assembly passed a bill into law which was assented by the former Vice-President Osinbajo when he was acting as the president. The law says FCT should have a civil service commission. Everybody has been running away from it. Nobody wants to implement it. Nobody has the political will to implement it. Everybody is saying ‘if I’m the head of service, it will reduce my power’. No. It is about the institution.

The president will come and go. The minister will come and go, so also the head of service will come and go. If the National Assembly passes a bill into law which is assented by Mr President, what is wrong in implementing that law?” According to the minister, no law is perfect, and iterations can only be made if implemented.