Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, says his political strategy is to keep opposition figures Atiku Abubakar and Peter Obi under sustained pressure ahead of the 2027 presidential election.
Wike made the statement on Friday in Abuja while discussing the state of opposition politics in Nigeria.
He argued that the country currently has no formidable opposition party, saying the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), which would ordinarily serve as the main opposition, has been weakened by its internal crisis.
“I have told you we have no opposition. What you have is people who are just trying to see whether they can be relevant,” Wike said.
He said he was not concerned about how Atiku and Obi felt about his political attacks.
“I don’t want them to feel well. It is not my wish for them to feel well. My business is to make them not feel well all day, because they will be having high blood pressure. I guess that is my job — to make them have high blood pressure,” he said.
Wike, a PDP member who is supporting President Bola Tinubu’s re-election bid, has repeatedly criticised Atiku and Obi in recent months.
On Thursday, he attacked Atiku over his promise to restore petrol subsidies if elected in 2027, describing the former vice-president as “confused” and accusing him of saying whatever was necessary to win the presidency.
He also criticised Obi in October 2025, describing the former Anambra governor as a “social media presidential candidate.”
Atiku is contesting the 2027 presidential election on the platform of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), while Obi is running under the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC).
