Wike Speaks On Report Of Collapsing Last Week

The Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, has vehemently dismissed circulating reports that he collapsed last week, labelling the claims as the work of individuals seeking to score cheap political points.

Naija News reports that Wike made the statement after inspecting four ongoing projects in the FCT, including the International Conference Centre (ICC).

He said, “I don’t want to give credence to people interested in Kangaroo. First of all, we are all human beings; it is not a ghost that will collapse. It’s a human being that will collapse. If there are very problems with their health, unfortunately, I did not collapse at the shedding side that I have any health problems.

“Let me tell you what happened. What happened was that you see that the former head of service of the Rivers State Government came out to let the public know what was going on, had a plan to bomb the house of assembly complex and had a plan to attack national assets.

“In order to divert attention for people not focusing on that, they have to bring one rumour that they have been flown overseas. There has not been a time I collapsed; there has not been a time someone took me to oversee. You see all those stories just died down. This is politics. We have this scheme: those who don’t bother us, who are not distracted, who are focused on our jobs.

“So I thank Nigerians for being for really worried that this people, people should not wish their fellow human beings such thing to happen. We know that we will die one day. Nobody will remain in this world forever. But it’s only God it is only God that says you will die today or tomorrow.

“So, you have seen that I am even healthier than most of them who carried that rumour and I will write their condolence letters. I can assure you that I will write their condolence letters. So, there is nothing like that.”

The minister’s clarification came in response to social media posts, particularly on 𝕏 (formerly Twitter), which alleged that he had collapsed at an event on Friday in Abuja. These posts further claimed that Wike was rushed to an undisclosed hospital for treatment.

Earlier, Wike’s Senior Special Assistant on Public Communications and Social Media, Lere Olayinka, had already debunked the false reports, calling them fake.

The Special Adviser to President Bola Tinubu on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, also refuted the rumours.

In a post on Sunday, Onanuga slammed the spread of the fake news, accusing “online idiots” of circulating false claims about Wike’s health, including unfounded allegations that the minister had suffered a stroke and was flown abroad for treatment.

Both officials reiterated that the reports were baseless and aimed at undermining the minister’s efforts.

Sharing a video of the FCT Minister’s sallah homage to President Tinubu, Onanuga wrote: “Here is Nyesom Wike, the Minister of FCT, reported by some online idiots to have suffered a stroke and flown abroad.”