Former Transportation Minister and ex-Rivers State Governor Rotimi Amaechi has dismissed FCT Minister Nyesom Wike’s criticisms, stating he refuses to engage in verbal sparring with “children.”
Amaechi made the remark Tuesday during an ARISE TV interview when addressing Wike’s response to his recent comments about Nigeria’s hunger crisis.”
“God, Peter Odili, the judiciary and the Rivers State people made me governor. Ask him how he made me governor. I’m saying this because I don’t want to join issues with children,” Amaechi said during the interview.
The exchange was triggered by Amaechi’s remarks during his 60th birthday celebration, where he voiced concerns about Nigeria’s worsening economic crisis.
“Nigerian elites are not the problems of Nigeria. The problems of Nigeria are the followership. There are no capitalists in Nigeria; capitalists are those with capital to invest for production. Do we produce here? I look at Nigeria and ask what are we doing here? Do we really want to be a country? What is important is how do we change this country?
“We’re all hungry, all of us are. If you’re not hungry, I’m. For us, the opposition, if you want us to remove the man in power, we can remove him from this power,” Amaechi said.
Wike, during a media chat on Monday, dismissed Amaechi’s comments as “politically motivated” and accused him of trivialising the plight of Nigerians.
“He did not talk about hunger. He became a minister — super minister of transportation. He did not talk about hunger. Two years after he left office and as a member of the coalition, he is talking about hunger. He is just hungry for power,” Wike said.
“How do you insult Nigerians and trivialise poverty and hunger? You are insulting Nigerians. It is just that you have stayed out of power — that is the hunger.”
In his response, Amaechi debunked Wike’s claim of being instrumental to his rise as governor, stating that his emergence was backed by divine intervention, legal victory, and the support of the people of Rivers State.
The former minister of transportation also addressed his decision to appoint Wike as chief of staff instead of commissioner for finance, citing the need for close supervision.
He said, “Mohammed Adoke flew all the way from Abuja to Port Harcourt. That week he asked me to make him commissioner for finance and I said no, he has to work under me. I want him as chief of staff so I can supervise him.
“I didn’t offer him commissioner for finance. You see, I’m saying this because I don’t want to join issues with children. I was once his boss. Whether he likes it or not. I hired him. I could have said no.”
He added, “You know, he made himself chief of staff. He made himself governor. He made himself minister. He made himself local government chairman.”
Amaechi also took a jab at Wike’s political conduct, saying, “There’s no more respect for family names. People just do and say anything.”
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