Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Minister, Nyesom Wike has called on Nigerians to be wary of those he described as ” political gamblers” ahead of the 2027 general elections.
Wike stated that there are many politicians who are using deceit as a means of gaining access to public office, and after which they will abandon the electorate.
The minister, who spoke on Thursday in Abuja, at the inaugural Idoma Hall of Fame induction ceremony, said Nigerians must look beyond ethnic sentiments, political calculations and the struggle for power to demand leadership that prioritises competence, fairness, accountability and service delivery.
He urged Nigerians to scrutinise the intentions and records of political leaders rather than allow ethnic loyalty and the politics of entitlement to determine their choices.
According to him, the persistent agitation for equity and fairness should not become an avenue for political opportunism or the redistribution of privileges among competing groups.
“One of the enduring difficulties of our political life is the tendency to convert public power into private possession,” Wike said.
He added that when political office became a means of personal accumulation, public resources were turned into instruments of private enrichment, while sectional domination alienated citizens who felt excluded from governance.
The minister warned that Nigeria’s quest for fairness would remain unresolved if political actors focused only on which ethnic group or region controlled power without addressing the conditions under which it was exercised.
“If one group replaces another at the table while the benefits remain fundamentally exclusionary, the occupants have changed, but the injustice has not,” he said.
