Former governor of Rivers State, Rotimi Amaechi, has berated the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, saying that he does not know why Wike disrespects him.
Amaechi, who disclosed this on Politics Today on Thursday, dared the minister to take a walk with him from Abuja to Port Harcourt to prove his popularity.
He said, “Let the Minister of the FCT come, let’s take a walk from the airport to Port Harcourt, no police, no army, nothing, just the two of us.
“I don’t know why he doesn’t respect people like us; I am older. I brought him up in politics. Who is he?”
The former governor said focusing on Wike would distract the opposition from making the masses know what the 2027 presidential election is really about. If the opposition continues to focus on him, we would be distracted from making the people know that this 2027 election is between the people — there’s no party, no ADC, no ADA, not this — versus Tinubu’s government,” he said. When asked why he remained silent when his predecessor and the suspended governor of Rivers State, Sim Fubara, were at loggerheads, Amaechi said, “Why should I intervene? Did you see the outcome? Don’t you get impressed by my reaction, that at the end of the day, somebody has surrendered?
“At the end of the day, you can see the looting going on in the government. Meanwhile, the former Minister of Transport confirmed that he was no longer a member of the ruling All Progressives Congress.
He said he resigned on Tuesday.
“Yes, I did. I think it was on Tuesday. I’d already transmitted my letter to the ward chairman.
“So, I directed one of my staff from my village to convey the letter to the ward chairman that I have left the party, if there was any party called APC, by the way,” the former minister said. Amaechi, who served as the governor of Rivers State of eight years, was succeeded by Wike in 2015.
Wike was also governor for eight years before his appointment as the FCT minister in by Tinubu in August 2023.
During an event organised to mark his 60th birthday anniversary, Amaechi said he was hungry and he would not mind joining the coalition led by a former vice president, Atiku Abubakar, to defeat President Bola Tinubu in the 2027 presidential election.
However, Wike, during a media parley in Abuja on June 2, said Amaechi was hungry for power, and not food.
“I don’t know why a man would choose his 60th birthday to tell lies. It’s unfortunate. Of all times, on your 60th birthday when people are celebrating you?
“He was (Rivers State) Speaker from 1999 to 2007. He was the most pampered speaker. He became a governor from 2007 to 2015. Eight years as Rivers State House of Assembly Speaker, and eight years as governor, he never talked about hunger.
“He became a minister from 2015 to 2023, eight years as a super minister of transport. When he was borrowing money (for projects), he didn’t talk about hunger.”