A chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Dele Momodu, has urged President Bola Tinubu not to promote the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike.
Momodu, in a riposte to Wike’s criticisms of him on Politics Today programme Monday, asked Tinubu to put aside any political benefit he wants to get from Wike in the 2027 polls and put him where he belongs.
“My appeal to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu is that no matter what you are expecting to gain from Wike in 2027, Wike is not the kind of character you should promote; he is not the kind of young man who should hijack our common patrimony,” Momodu said. He claimed that political power derived from public offices and the privileges attached to the offices have changed Wike over the years.
“When a man who had been a nobody gets power, he begins to change slowly and steadily,” he said.
“The oppressed man respects only one man: the oppressor. Wike used to respect only one man – Rotimi Amaechi. Rotimi Amaechi has been my friend from the time he was Speaker of the Rivers State House of Assembly.” Momodu said Wike’s metamorphosis started when he took power as a local government chairman in Rivers State.
“Of course, after power in Nigeria comes the spirit of money. Also very demonic if you don’t know how to manage it well.”
The Ovation Magazine Publisher traced his close relationship to Wike to 2022 when the then governor of Rivers State reportedly invited him to the oil-rich Niger Delta state for the media coverage of some of the state’s projects. Wike was Rivers governor from May 2015 to May 2023 and was appointed minister in August 2023. Momodu claimed that Wike benefited from his talents and that he branded him and worked on his reputation before their relationship broke down irreparably.
Momodu and Wike were once friends but their relationship toured sour when both men joined the race to become the 2023 presidential candidate of the PDP. Both men, among others, lost to former Vice President Atiku Abubakar.