Nyesom Wike, the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), claims that he derives joy from stepping on the toes of ‘big men’.
During a media meeting in Abuja, Wike announced this, warning all Abuja property owners who have not paid their ground rent to do so or face consequences.
The former sate lead representative of Rivers State made fun of Bode George and other PDP leaders by claiming that the party was required to cover the ground rent for its Abuja secretariat.
Wike claimed that his predecessors in the FCT, including the current governor of Bauchi State, Bala Mohammed, lacked the guts to demand that political heavyweights who own buildings in the capital pay their yearly ground rent.
He remarked, “Look at what we are doing differently. People have said that FCT was not working (but) now it is working which means I’m doing things that they (past FCT ministers) refused to do.
I found out that most of them didn’t have the courage to annoy people, to step on toes but I take joy when I step on the toes of big men; those who say nothing will happen but I say something will happen. It makes me happy.
They just want me to rule against impoverished people who claim nothing will happen to them, but I insist that something will. We are producing outcomes because of this. It is too awful if you do not do the proper thing. I do not care.
Newspapers in the FCT carried the names of 9,000 debtors who were urged to pay their ground rentals by the Wike administration to prevent confiscation.
President Bola Tinubu gave the defaulters a 14-day grace period to pay their outstanding debts and penalties. The administration then declared on May 23, 2025, that it would seize approximately 5,000 affected properties that owed ground rents ranging from 10 to 43 years. The administration also started sealing and seizing the properties of debtors, including the PDP national secretariat.
