The Senator stated that the FCT minister does not understand the people’s needs and is failing to address them.

The Senator representing the Federal Capital Territory, Ireti Kingibe, says residents of the capital will take action against FCT Minister, Nyesom Wike, in the upcoming local government election in Abuja.

Kingibe, while appearing on Channels Television’s Political Paradigm, said Wike is out of touch with the people’s needs and has not been meeting them.

“The truth is that the people of the FCT resent Wike,” she said. “They are not happy with his attitude and his failure to meet their needs.”

She noted that the forthcoming local council elections would serve as a test of the minister’s performance.

“The people will show him who owns the FCT during the council polls,” she added.

Watch VIDEO HERE

Daniel Bwala, a presidential aide, has said that his former principal and ex-Vice President Atiku Abubakar may not have been destined to become Nigeria’s President.

“There is my former principal who believes that he is going to win,” Bwala said during Channels Television’s Politics Today programme on Monday, dismissing the chances of Atiku and other opposition coalition leaders like Peter Obi and Rotimi Amaechi to defeat President Bola Tinubu in 2027.

“In all honesty, I have expressed my opinion that it may never have been destined by God for him to be a president in Nigeria because he has done everything he needs to do to be president and he did not win the presidency.

“2023 was the biggest opportunity that my former principal Atiku Abubakar had. He will never have that kind of privilege again,” he said.

Interestingly, Bwala served as Atiku’s campaign spokesperson during the 2023 election but later switched his allegiance to Tinubu.

Opposition has no alternative policies

Opposition leaders recently agreed to use the African Democratic Party as the platform for their coalition to remove Tinubu, whom they accused of leading the country backward.

However, Bwala dismissed their efforts, saying they have failed to provide alternative policies that could convince Nigerians to support them.

“What I still find intriguing is that this coalition of internally displaced politicians have not been able to summon the courage and come up with alternative facts, alternative policies or alternative programmes.

“Throughout the interview you had with Peter Obi, what I find is that he has not been able to counter or to disagree in the real sense of the word with the policies that we are implementing,” he said.

Coalition will scatter in six months

Bwala further downplayed the threat posed by the opposition coalition to Tinubu’s presidency, predicting that the coalition would not last beyond six months.

He stated that internal disputes over who would emerge as the presidential candidate under the ADC would break up the coalition, ultimately benefiting Tinubu in 2027.

“All this fantasy of coalition, we all know that once there is a phenomenon like that we are going to have a good two to three weeks of all these romanticizing of ‘we have ideas, we can do this’.

“But one of them, his name is Datti (Baba-Ahmed) already sensed the danger that is ahead for them and he said that the problem of theis coalition will be who will be the president because right now, I’m quoting him, ‘everybody wants to be the president’.

“After one month when they sit down, I am telling you on my own honour, in the next six months, that coalition thing will not even be a conversation, they will scatter,” Bwala added.

There are concerns that the Senate leadership may clash with the suspended senator representing Kogi Central Senatorial District, Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, after she vowed to attend the plenary today.

The Senate is, however, preparing for a possible confrontation and has stated that it will not take any official action on the matter until it reviews the Certified True Copy of the court’s ruling.

Akpoti-Uduaghan, in a video circulating on social media, told her excited supporters that she would return to her legislative duties in the Red Chamber on Tuesday.

She also thanked her constituents for their support after the court ruling that upheld her position in the Senate.

She said, “I thank you for your support. I am glad we are victorious today. We shall resume in the Senate on Tuesday by the grace of God.”

A Federal High Court in Abuja had, on Friday, overturned the six-month suspension placed on Akpoti-Uduaghan by the Senate.

The court ruled that the suspension was excessive, unconstitutional, and violated the rights of her constituents, ordering her immediate reinstatement.

The court also imposed a fine of N5m on her for contempt over a Facebook post deemed to have breached an earlier court order.

Justice Binta Nyako, in her ruling, stated that Akpoti-Uduaghan’s Facebook post, which contained a satirical apology aimed at Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, violated an interim injunction issued on March 4, 2025.

The injunction had prohibited all parties from making public comments or social media posts related to the ongoing legal case challenging her suspension.

However, less than 24 hours after she announced plans to return to plenary, the Senate stated that it would wait to receive and review the Certified True Copy of the court’s judgment before taking any official steps.

In a statement on Sunday, Chairman of the Senate Committee on Media and Public Affairs, Yemi Adaramodu, explained that although their legal team was present in court, the full judgment was not read aloud.

He also mentioned that a formal request had been made to obtain the Certified True Copy for a complete understanding of the court’s decision and any specific directives.

The statement partly read, “Pending receipt and examination of the CTC, and acting on the advice of counsel, the Senate shall refrain from taking any steps that may prejudice its legal position.”

Akpoti-Uduaghan was suspended for six months in March after a heated session where she accused Akpabio of sexual harassment.

Her suspension drew widespread criticism from civil society organisations and human rights advocates.

She later filed a lawsuit against the Senate and its leadership, claiming that the suspension was a deliberate attempt to silence her and deny her constituents representation.

Following a satirical Facebook post dated April 27, where she offered what the court described as a “mock apology” to Akpabio, the Senate President’s legal team filed a contempt charge against her.

They argued that the post defied the court’s gag order.

During the hearing, Akpoti-Uduaghan’s lawyers argued that the post had nothing to do with the suspension case, maintaining it was related to her separate misconduct claims against the Senate President.

However, Justice Nyako disagreed, ruling that the post was connected to the case and constituted a clear violation of the court’s order.

The judge imposed a N5m fine on her and ordered her to issue a public apology within seven days.

The judge further directed that the apology must be published in two national newspapers and reposted on her Facebook page.

As of Monday evening, Akpoti-Uduaghan had not yet published the apology in the required newspapers or on her Facebook page.