The Federal Capital Territory Minister, Nyesom Wike, declared on Thursday that he would sign the condolence registers of all persons who wished him dead.

He spoke in reaction to a series of speculations that he collapsed last Friday in Abuja at a meeting and was rushed to France and died afterwards.

But briefing journalists after inspecting projects in Abuja, Wike said the death wishes were calculated to distract him from the work he was doing in the FCT.

According to the minister, the wicked speculation was initiated by his political detractors after the allegations made against the suspended governor of Rivers State, Siminalayi Fubara, by the former Head of Service of the state, George Nwaeke.

Wike said, “You have seen that I am even healthier than most of them who carried that rumour and I will write their condolence letters. I can assure you that I will write their condolence letters. So, there is nothing like that.

“I don’t want to give credence to people who are only interested in carrying rumours. First of all, I am a human being, it Is not a ghost that will collapse.

“It is human beings that will collapse if there is any problem with their health. Unfortunately, I did not collapse and I did not show any sign that I have any health problem.

“There was no time I collapsed, there was no time anybody took me overseas. But you see me every day. The day Mr President broke iftar on his birthday, I was there.

“The next day, I led Abuja residents to pay Sallah homage. You see, all those stories just died down. This is politics. We have thick skin. Those things don’t bother us. We are not distracted. We are focused on our jobs.

“So, I thank Nigerians for being worried, which it should be, but people should not wish their fellow human beings such a thing to happen.” Wike stated.

Linking the rumour to the Nwaeke’s allegations against Fubara, the FCT Minister said, “Let me tell you what happened. What happened was that you saw that the former Head of Service (in Rivers state) came out to let the public know what was going on, how they planned to bomb the House of Assembly complex and how they planned to attack national assets. In order to divert attention from people not focusing on that, they had to bring one rumor that they have been flown overseas.” (The Guardian)