The Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, on Monday took a swipe at the senator representing the FCT, Ireti Kingibe, over her criticism of movement restrictions imposed during the recently concluded area council elections in Abuja.
Speaking at his first monthly media parley for 2026 in Abuja, Wike dismissed claims that he declared a curfew or public holiday in the FCT, insisting that the directive was issued with the approval of President Bola Tinubu.
The minister said Kingibe would have understood his position if she had carefully listened to his earlier address.
“Remember the senator representing the FCT said they would use the local government election to teach me a lesson, that FCT is not Rivers State. Therefore, I believe they ought to have prepared,” Wike said.
Responding directly to allegations that he declared a curfew, the former Rivers State governor stated: “Let me answer the question that I declared a curfew. I heard when the senator said so. I know she doesn’t read; she reads love magazines and all those things. If she listened to my speech, I said by the approval of Mr President, who directed that people should return to their area councils where they come from, that he granted a work-free day so that people would not travel late on Saturday.”
Wike maintained that, as a representative of the President in the FCT, he acted based on security intelligence reports unavailable to others.
“I never declared a curfew or public holiday. I said, by the approval of Mr President, movement would be restricted from 8 p.m. We had intelligence reports and did not want anyone to claim there was violence during the election. This is not the first time such measures have been taken,” he added.
The restriction of movement formed part of security arrangements aimed at ensuring a peaceful conduct of the local council elections across the Federal Capital Territory.
Margaret ABAH
