The Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, has lashed out at the senator representing the FCT, Ireti Kingibe, over her remarks concerning the restriction of movement during the recent local council election in Abuja.

Wike stated that Kingibe would have understood his position if she had carefully followed his speech, stressing that the directive on movement restriction was approved by President Bola Tinubu.

Speaking during his first monthly media parley for 2026 in Abuja, the minister insisted that he did not declare a curfew or a public holiday in the FCT.

He said, “Remember the senator representing the FCT has said that they will use the local government election to teach me a lesson that FCT is not Rivers State.

“Therefore, I believe that they ought to have prepared. Let me answer one question that I declared curfew, I heard when the senator said so.

“I know she doesn’t read, she reads love magazines and all those things. If she heard my speech, I said by the approval of Mr President, who had said for people to go back to their area council where they come from that he has given a work-free day, so that you don’t go back late as against Saturday.

“As a minister who represents Mr President, the security reports I have, they do not have it.

“I never declared a curfew or public holiday, and I said by the approval of Mr President movement is restricted from 8pm.

“We have intelligence reports and we didn’t want anybody to say there was violence in the election, and this is not the first time.”