Tinubu Approachable, Cannot Attend To Everyone — Wike

The Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, has defended President Bola Tinubu against claims that his administration is unapproachable, stressing that the president cannot personally attend to everyone.

Wike, who made a guest appearance on Tuesday’s edition of Channels Television Politics Today programme, maintained that governance involves teamwork and that Nigerians should engage ministers and presidential advisers rather than expect direct access to the president.

“When you say Mr President is unapproachable, and the government is unapproachable, what do you call government?” Wike asked.

“I am the Minister in charge of the Federal Capital Territory, Mr Z is a Minister in charge of Interior, Mrs O is a Minister in charge of Trade, Investment and Industry. Must everybody reach Mr President? Is that the way government runs?

“If everybody in this country refuses to reach out to ministers or special advisers and just wants to see Mr President, how many people can he attend to at a time? I am a minister, if you have a problem regarding the activities in the FCT, have you tried to reach out to the FCT minister?” he asked.

When asked if the government was approachable, Wike responded, “Of course.”

His remarks followed a recent comment by Babachir Lawal, a former Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), who had described Tinubu and his administration as unapproachable.

The ex-SGF, who has been vocal about his criticism of Tinubu, had said he would not have coped “if he were in this government”.

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Lawal had said he would have either resigned, been sacked, or even “killed” if he had served under the current administration.

“I thank God that I didn’t make the mistake of being in this government ab initio. I probably would have been sacked a long time ago, killed or resigned,” he had said.

Lawal had faulted some of the government’s economic policies, particularly the removal of the fuel subsidy in 2023, insisting Nigerians had yet to benefit and accusing the administration of secretly continuing the subsidy despite claims to the contrary.