By Ben Adoga, Abuja
The Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, yesterday launched a scathing attack on his predecessor and former Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi, accusing him of using his 60th birthday celebration to peddle falsehoods about the state of hunger in Nigeria.
Wike reacted pointedly to remarks made by Amaechi during his 60th birthday lecture, where the former governor of Rivers State lamented the worsening hunger in the country.
Responding to questions during a live broadcast interview from his Life Camp official residence in Abuja, Wike dismissed the concern as disingenuous, asserting that Amaechi was not suffering from physical hunger but was instead ‘hungry for power.’
According to Wike, Amaechi served continuously in government for 24 years without ever raising concerns about hunger—until he found himself outside the corridors of power.
“He left power, and that’s his hunger—he’s hungry for power. He’s insulting Nigerians,” Wike said during a live broadcast from his official residence in Life Camp, Abuja.
The FCT Minister questioned the integrity and timing of Amaechi’s remarks.
“I don’t know how a man would choose his 60th birthday to tell lies. It’s unfortunate. Of all times—when people are celebrating you—you use it to tell lies to Nigerians? You say you are hungry?”
Wike recounted Amaechi’s extensive political career, which included serving as Speaker of the Rivers State House of Assembly from 1999 to 2007, Governor of Rivers State from 2007 to 2015, and Minister of Transportation from 2015 to 2023.
“He was the most pompous Speaker ever, reading law in London while serving as Speaker. He never talked about hunger during those years,” Wike said.
“He became a minister from 2015 to 2023, a super minister for that matter—handling Transportation and borrowing from Afreximbank—he didn’t mention hunger. Now, just two years out of office, he’s suddenly concerned?”
Wike also dismissed the coalition Amaechi is reportedly involved in as a political charade motivated by a desperate quest for relevance.
“He’s in a coalition because of hunger. He’s hungry for power. That’s the real hunger. How do you insult Nigerians by trivialising hunger and poverty?”
He further accused Amaechi of lacking the political influence many credit him with, describing him as a serial failure in political leadership and electioneering.
“This was the same man who, on national television, claimed he didn’t like money, yet he was swimming in dollars. You say he is influential? What kind of influence?”
Highlighting Amaechi’s alleged political shortcomings, Wike stated, “He couldn’t produce a successor as governor in 2015. As a sitting minister and Director-General of Buhari’s campaign in 2019, he couldn’t secure 25 per cent of votes for Buhari in Rivers State.
“Again, in 2023, he supported Atiku. Thankfully, we didn’t support the PDP. If we had, and they won, he would’ve taken the glory. But they didn’t even get 10 per cent.”
Wike urged Amaechi and his allies to start their coalition efforts by proving their political strength in their home states.
“Let them start by removing the President from their home states during an election. When you say, ‘We will remove the President,’ are you talking about a coup? That word—’remove’—sounds dictatorial. Why not say ‘we’ll vote him out?”
Addressing the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Wike reaffirmed his loyalty, stating that he had delivered more for the party than many of its prominent voices.
“I supported the PDP all through. My state won all positions—the governor, National Assembly, and State Assembly seats. Before accepting a role in the APC-led federal government, I informed my party, and they agreed,” he said.
Wike criticised those who question his political alignment, citing precedents where members of opposing parties had served in governments across the divide.
“Governor Bala Mohammed was an APC senator before serving in a PDP government. The late Bola Ige, an AD chieftain, also served under a PDP-led government,” he recalled.
*Says Bode George should read newspapers if he’s jobless
Wike also took a swipe at a member of the PDP’s Board of Trustees, Bode George, over his comment on the ground rent the party owes the Federal Capital Territory Administration.
George had last Tuesday said Wike should have paid the ground rent, which led to the sealing of the PDP’s national secretariat, to demonstrate his loyalty to the party as a major beneficiary.
In his reaction, the Minister said though neither he nor George could pay the debt because it was not in their names, the BoT member was also indebted to the FCTA.
He said, “I read what he said. If an old man has no job, sit down in your house and read newspapers. Bode George said the PDP made me, and PDP gave me a national name. I agree.
“A party cannot make you; you are the one that will make the party popular to win an election. I agree that the PDP made me.”
Wike also said that, unlike his counterparts in Lagos, he laboured for the PDP and ensured that it won in Rivers and at the centre.
He said, “Ask Bode George, ‘Who did the PDP make in Lagos since 1999?’ Not anyone and then you are talking to me who has laboured, campaigned, and won for the party to be the major party in the state and at the national level.
“Meanwhile in your state, the party every day is crying, complaining from 1999. Even when we were in power, we knew what we did to make sure that PDP took over in Lagos. It didn’t work; even when Jonathan came, it didn’t work.”
*Vows to lead Tinubu’s re-election
Wike, however, made no pretences about his political future.
He openly declared his commitment to campaigning for President Bola Tinubu’s re-election both in Rivers State and the FCT.
“Are you not aware that I will lead the campaign in Rivers State? Oh, you want me to say it? Of course, is that hidden? Because I’ve always said the South must produce the president.”
He went further to pledge his full support for President Tinubu’s second-term bid.
“I will support Asiwaju. The way we won other elections, that’s how we will win again. I’m not a liability. I’m an asset. Whether you agree or not, I’m an asset.
“Whether you like me or not, I’m still an asset. Your opinion doesn’t change my values. I’ll make sure Tinubu wins a second term.”
When asked if he will lead the APC campaign in 2027, Wike said, “I have told you this before, is it because I am in Asiwaju’s presidency?
“Are you not aware I will lead his campaign in Rivers State? You want me to say no? “Are you not aware that he didn’t get up to 10 per cent here, FCT? But he will win here. Are you not aware?
“Stop asking me questions, you know. Of course, you know. Is that hidden? Because I have said, the South must produce the president.”
*Fubara’s peace move should be sincere
On Rivers State politics, Wike reiterated that there was no crisis between him and the suspended governor of Rivers State, Siminalayi Fubara.
He, however, felt a deep sense of betrayal when he compared Fubara to a son whom a man had brought up very well, who provided for every need, only to turn out to lead armed robbers to his house.
He said, “I don’t know anything about the crisis between me and Fubara. I don’t have any crisis with him.”
Wike said he’s not in the position to call off the state of emergency, as it’s only the president who can handle that.
Repeating this, he said that he wanted outright impeachment, so the president gave Fubara a soft landing and stated that if he wished for genuine reconciliation, he should be sincere about his peace moves.
“I’m not the president who would lift the state of emergency. If Mr. President had called me at that time, I wouldn’t have accepted the state of emergency. So he knows. He knows what to lift.
“So the issue of whether the government is right or not does not arise. What I said was that the state of emergency was intended to save the governor, as the governor was on the verge of impeachment. That was not our hope. I had said so several times. But the president, in his wisdom, chose to declare a state of emergency.”
On Fubara’s speech, Wike said, “I did not say it. He said it. Now, the point I’m making is, what is the crisis? I have told you several times. I don’t want a crisis. But instead, the governor, unknown to me, brought himself as a tool to those who couldn’t fight me to fight me.
“When people talk about resolution, sometimes, when I go back, in my quiet moments, I play the video of the speeches of the governor. What he said, what he did to me, I weep. Was it necessary?”
