Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Minister Nyesom Wike has said some people are so pretentious that they deserve to make the Guinness Book of World Records for this feat.
Wike spoke at the weekend during the 60th birthday celebration of the National Chairman (Southsouth) of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Chief Victor Giadom, in Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital.
During the event, which attracted leaders across party lines, the minister said Victor was not among such pretenders.
But the former Rivers State governor did not reveal the identities of the pretenders whom he described as snakes.
He said: “Even though we were of different parties, Victor had never gone on television to abuse any of his friends. He doesn’t allow politics to be a wedge between him and his friends. He plays politics and still remains with you.
“Victor is someone who will tell you he will be with you, and he will be with you. Victor is not a pretender. He is not one of those who have made the Guinness Book of Records as pretenders. There are those who have made the Guinness Book of Records by pretending. Nobody knew that they were snakes.
“Victor could tell you: ‘I will not do this’, and he will not do it. He will tell you: ‘I will do this’, and he will do it. I know his children and his wife.
“He has been my good friend, and I like to associate with people who remember tomorrow. I like those who will not forget when things were not good to them. Victor is not somebody who gives excuses.
”Wike recalled that he had known Victor as a grateful person since he (Wike) was Chairman of Obio-Akpor Local Government Area.
“He left us and went to the other side. Unfortunately for him, since he left us, he had not won any election again. It is on record since 2015. Victor had not won any election. But because he came to us again in 2023, he now won an election. Victor remembers his friends. I thank God Almighty for what he has done for his family,” he said.
Wike stressed that he remained a member of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), though the lawmakers in the state had joined the APC.
Vice President Kassim Shettima, who was represented by the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Agribusiness and Productivity Enhancement in the Office of the Vice President, Dr. Kingsley Uzoma, hailed Wike and other personalities who had worked in Rivers State for working for President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s victory in last year’s general election.
Acknowledging the hardship in the land, Shettima urged fellow citizens to exercise a little more patience.
The Vice President insisted that President Tinubu was moving in the right direction.
He said: “President Bola Ahmed Tinubu is today the President of the country. We are quite happy for the support we got from here. It is true that times are difficult everywhere. But I appeal that we have a little patience because for the first time Nigeria is actually challenging the problems.
“Nigeria has been mismanaged for quite a while. It is time to make it right. It is true that there had to be sacrifice for anything that is going to be good. Inflation that is biting the world round is not just in Nigeria.
“What is happening is a call to service. We need to raise our productivity and the moment we do our nation will be respected. I assure you that the government of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu is going in the right direction and will deliver all his promises.
”Other dignitaries at the event included APC National Chairman Abdullahi Ganduje; the party’s national and state leadership; Cross River State Governor Bassey Edet Otu; Minister of Petroleum (Oil) Senator Heineken Lokpobiri; Rivers State House of Assembly Speaker Martinn Amaewhule; other lawmakers, senators, members of the House of Representatives, and traditional rulers.
