Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Nyesom Wike has defended his proposed ₦10 million reward for councillors who deliver their wards for President Bola Tinubu in 2027, dismissing allegations that the offer amounts to vote-buying.
Wike said the reward was intended to encourage political mobilisation, commitment, and hard work.
He insisted that he never directed councillors to use the money to induce voters or influence their electoral choices.
The minister stated this on Tuesday during an inspection tour of ongoing infrastructure projects in Abuja.
“Go and Work”
Wike argued that rewarding political actors for achieving set targets was fundamentally different from offering financial inducements to voters in exchange for their votes.
“I didn’t tell them, ‘Take this money and go and buy votes.’ I said, ‘Go and work. Show commitment. Demonstrate that you really mean what you are talking about. When you win, come and we are going to reward you,’” Wike said.
To reinforce his argument, the minister drew comparisons with incentives offered to Nigerian athletes who win international competitions.
He noted that governments and individuals often promise houses and other benefits to encourage sporting excellence.
He questioned why similar reward arrangements in politics should be interpreted as bribery when they were intended to recognise commitment and performance.
Wike also faulted sections of the media for what he described as a failure to distinguish between political rewards and vote-buying.
He challenged journalists to scrutinise the circumstances surrounding political financial incentives rather than automatically interpreting every promise of reward as an attempt to compromise the electoral process.
The minister further questioned why political parties and candidates routinely spend substantial sums on campaign advertisements and other mobilisation activities without attracting the same level of criticism.
APC Chairman Backs Wike
The National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Nentawe Yilwatda, has defended Wike over the promise.
Speaking on Channels Television’s Politics Today on Monday, the APC chairman insisted that the offer did not amount to vote-buying.
But not everyone agrees. Professor of political economy and opposition activist, took the minister and the overnment to the cleaners regarding the offer.
“A government that can casually promise ₦10 million to councillors, allegedly to facilitate the rigging of elections, cannot honestly claim that the country has no money. The money exists. What is missing is the willingness to spend it on the people,” the prof wrote in a Facebook post from his official handle.
“I have said this so many times that education in Nigeria, at every level, ought to be extremely affordable in a country so generously endowed with crude oil, natural gas, gold and vast arable land.
“Yet, whenever the question of educating our children arises, we are told that there is no money. No money for schools, no money for teachers, no money to give millions of young Nigerians a decent chance at life.”
Utomi said, he observed there “is always money when the interests of corrupt politicians are at stake. There are funds for councillors, funds for political loyalty and, allegedly, funds for electoral manipulation.”
He berated government apologists and sympathizers, saying, “What exactly are you defending? You are not defending democracy, You are defending a system in which public wealth is treated as the private inheritance of a privileged few, while the ordinary citizen is left to beg for the smallest necessities of life.”
“If we don’t come together to end this madness in Nigeria, we’ll find ourselves in a much hotter mess in the future.”
Infrastructure Ahead of 2027
Nevertheless, speaking during the inspection tour, Minister Wike expressed satisfaction with the progress of ongoing infrastructure projects.
These include Interchange Section 2 (ISEX 2), the Southern Parkway, and the S1 Road, which also incorporates a fire station.
He disclosed that the projects were progressing according to schedule and were expected to be completed by December 15, ahead of the January 16, 2027 general elections.
According to him, the projects would further demonstrate the achievements of President Tinubu’s administration and provide a strong basis for its re-election campaign.
Wike reiterated that his support for the President was not necessarily based on party affiliation but on his conviction that the administration was delivering development.
He said Nigerians who genuinely desire progress should support policies and programmes capable of driving infrastructure development and improving lives.
