Atiku’s Aide Challenges Wike to Disclose Media Chat Invoices

Paul Ibe, media adviser to former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar, has challenged the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, to publish invoices detailing the cost of broadcasting his media chats and identify the public funds used to pay for them.

Ibe made the demand in a post on X on Tuesday, October 13, 2026, following Wike’s latest media engagement, which was aired live by several television and radio stations.

He questioned the amount spent on the broadcasts and called on the minister to disclose the payments made to participating stations, the sources of the funds and the specific budget lines from which the expenses were covered.

According to Ibe, at least eight broadcast outlets aired the session. They included Arise Television, Channels Television, TVC, News Central, AIT, JDK, Aso TV and Radio, and ADBN.

Estimating airtime costs at between ₦10 million and ₦20 million per station for each hour, Ibe suggested that a two-hour broadcast across eight outlets could cost between ₦160 million and ₦320 million.

He further calculated that organising similar sessions every month for a year could bring the total expenditure to between ₦1.92 billion and ₦3.84 billion. However, the figures were estimates presented by Ibe and were not confirmed as the actual amounts paid for the broadcasts.

The former vice-president’s aide said residents of the FCT deserved to know how much was being spent on the minister’s media engagements and how much of the airtime was devoted to discussing the territory’s development rather than Wike’s political disagreements with Atiku, former Rivers State Governor Rotimi Amaechi, Peter Obi, the African Democratic Congress (ADC) and the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC).

Ibe stated that he had no objection to Wike using media appearances to explain his performance as FCT minister. However, he maintained that public resources should be directed towards activities that serve the interests of residents rather than personal political disputes.

He called on Wike to provide a breakdown of the payments, name the stations that received them and disclose the funding sources and relevant budget provisions.

Ibe also argued that the minister’s media engagements should give greater attention to pressing issues affecting residents, including roads, water supply, education, healthcare, sanitation and security.

He maintained that political figures and parties should not take priority over the responsibilities of the FCT Administration, insisting that public money should not be used to finance personal political publicity.