ABUJA, Nigeria — Nyesom Wike on Monday criticized former presidential candidate Peter Obi for celebrating his birthday at an internally displaced persons camp, accusing opposition figures of exploiting poor Nigerians for political gain, March 2, 2026. The minister alleged that such gestures were insincere and questioned whether Obi visited any IDP camps while serving as governor.

Wike, the minister of the Federal Capital Territory, made the remarks during his monthly media chat in Abuja. He also mentioned former Vice President Atiku Abubakar and former Minister of Transportation Rotimi Amaechi, accusing them of “hoodwinking” poor citizens.

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“I saw Obi, Atiku, and Amaechi going to campaign. What Amaechi did was to buy corn. A corn he has never chewed as a minister on the road. A corn he didn’t chew as a governor. You like to deceive the poor,” Wike said.

“It’s like Peter Obi today, if he’s doing birthday party today, he’ll go to IDP camp. When he was governor, did he not have birthday party? Mention one IDP camp he went to?” he added.

Meanwhile, Wike credited President Bola Tinubu’s directive for the success of the All Progressives Congress in the recent Federal Capital Territory Area Council elections.

The APC won five of the six Area Council chairmanship seats in the elections held Feb. 21, 2026.

Speaking during his first media parley of the year, Wike said Tinubu instructed him to focus on satellite towns to ensure residents felt the impact of governance.

“The President said we must go to the satellite towns and let them feel the impact of governance, let them feel the impact of government. And we did that,” Wike said.

He argued that previous ruling parties struggled in the city center because residents often did not turn out to vote.

“Who would have beaten Asiwaju’s government in this FCT election if all we did was focus on the city?” Wike said. “Where did people not come out? All of them are within the city. But when we reached the satellite towns, people voted and made their voices heard. That’s why APC was able to secure the majority of seats.”