Nyesom Wike, the minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), denied on Monday that Rotimi Amaechi, the former governor of Rivers State, has the clout to assist the opposition alliance in overthrowing President Bola Tinubu.
The minister was responding to remarks made by Amaechi during the celebration of his 60th birthday that were critical of President Bola Tinubu’s administration.
Amaechi lacks such influence, according to Wike, who emphasized that the former Transportation Minister was unable to assist former President Muhammadu Buhari in obtaining 25% of the vote in Rivers State.
Speaking during his monthly press briefing in Abuja, Wike remarked: “I don’t know how somebody will use his 60th birthday to tell lies. Years after leaving office. I’m in coalition because I’m hungry, zoning office for power, that shows failure on his part.
How do you treat Nigerians? Do you minimize the problems of poverty or hunger? Are you disparaging Nigerians?
How would a man who served as Nigeria’s leader from 1999 to 2023 address the issue of hunger in front of Nigerians? This individual, who oversaw billions of naira, was also the one who claimed on national television that he disliked money. In the meantime, he was carrying dollars and telling Nigerians that he dislikes money, and we were listening.
“You claim he has influence, but what kind of influence? What influence do we have when we overrate people? He was a sitting minister in 2019, and no president has ever dealt with soldiers the way he did. He was state led representative in 2015 but failed to produce a successor and failed to offer his candidate, Buhari, the standard 25 percent.
Amaechi claimed that while he was able to produce a state lead representative, he was unable to produce a contender. Despite being the DG of his campaign, Buhari did not receive a quarter.
“Thank God we did not support the PDP when he came to support Atiku in 2023. He would have claimed the glory if we had backed the PDP and they had won. Why did the PDP fail and receive less than 10 percent?
“Let them form a team and the coalition starts from home to start removing the President.”
Amaechi is presently a member of the opposition alliance that poses a danger to President Bola Tinubu’s 2027 reelection.
