THE Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, has accused former Rivers State Governor, Rotimi Amaechi, of lying after Amaechi claimed he was hungry while speaking about the state of the economy at an event held to celebrate his 60th birthday recently.
At a media parley on Monday, June 2, Wike said the former minister of transport was only hungry for power, and not food.
The ICIR reports that Amaechi during an event marking his 60th birthday on Friday, May 30, challenged Nigerians to speak out against hardship in the country.
“We’re all hungry, all of us are. If you’re not hungry, I am. For us, the opposition, if you want us to remove the man in power, we can remove him from this power. In Nigeria, there are no capitalist ideas among the politicians; it’s about sharing.” Amaechi had said.
Responding to the claims, Wike said he did not understand why a man like Ameachi who held political offices between 1999 and 2022 would choose his 60th birthday to deceive Nigerians about being hungry.
“We have no time to listen to nonsense in Nigeria. He was Speaker from 1999 to 2007, Governor from 2007 to 2015, and Minister from 2015 to 2023. He never spoke about hunger during those years.
“Now they are regrouping. They are only hungry for power. This shows his failure. How can you trivialise the issue of hunger? He joined Atiku and claimed hunger. It is clear he cannot stay out of power. From 1999 to 2023, Amaechi stood before Nigerians and claimed hunger,” Wike said.
He also said he was waiting to see how the former minister would remove the president from office in the next election.
“Let’s see how he plans to remove the president. Is it a military coup? The term ‘removal’ is synonymous with dictatorship or military coup. Nigerians remember what happened in 2015, and now he claims Nigerians are hungry.
The FCT minister bragged about being an asset in ensuring President Tinubu wins a second term.
The ICIR reports that both Wike and Amaechi served as governors of Rivers State. Amaechi was the Speaker of the Rivers House of Assembly between 1999 and 2007, a two-term governor from 2007 to 2015 before being appointed Minister of Transportation by former President Muhammadu Buhari. He also chaired the Nigerian Governors’ Forum from 2011 to 2015.
He also served as the pioneer chairman of Nigeria’s conference of speakers of state assemblies.
Amaechi contested against President Bola Tinubu at the All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential primary in 2022. He came second with 316 votes while Tinubu won the poll with 1,271 votes.
I enjoy stepping on big people’s toes – Wike
Fielding questions on the FCT Administration’s revocation of properties that failed to pay ground rent in the nation’s capital, Wike said he derived joy in stepping on big people’s toes.
He stressed that the elite should go to other countries and see how modern societies are run.
The minister argued that some of them come back to Nigeria and refuse to follow simple laws.
Nanji is an investigative journalist with the ICIR. She has years of experience in reporting and broadcasting human angle stories, gender inequalities, minority stories, and human rights issues. She has documented sexual war crimes in armed conflict, sex for grades in Nigerian Universities, harmful traditional practices and human trafficking.