|By Adejumo Adekunle-
-APC chieftain accuses FCT Minister of rewriting his past
-Says Wike ridicules himself with “self-denial” and public outbursts
Chief Eze Chukwuemeka Eze, a chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and known ally of former Transportation Minister, Chibuike Amaechi, has launched a scathing response to comments made by the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, during a recent television appearance.
Wike, who featured on Channels Television’s Politics Today, claimed he came from a wealthy background, drove himself to school, and stood apart from Amaechi in terms of upbringing. He also alleged that Amaechi’s wife, Dame Judith, was receiving N4 million monthly from the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) to train Rivers women, vowing to resign if a forensic audit of the NDDC failed to indict her.
Reacting in a statement made available to journalists over the weekend, Chief Eze accused Wike of peddling falsehoods and attempting to distort his humble origins. “Wike was once an errand boy to Amaechi,” Eze said. “Today, he has turned his back on everyone who helped lift him from the depths of poverty that plagued his family.”
Eze argued that Wike could not have made himself Chairman of Obio/Akpor Local Government, Chief of Staff under Amaechi, or Minister under former President Goodluck Jonathan without powerful endorsements. “Claiming now that he came from a wealthy family is a blatant denial of the truth,” Eze stated. “Wike’s father, if alive, would be disappointed by this self-denial.”
He further alleged that Wike’s school fees were paid by the father of a close friend, as his own family was unable to afford it. “Had that man not intervened, Nigerians would have been spared the embarrassment of having such a character in public office,” he added.
On Wike’s attack against Amaechi’s wife, Eze described it as “an unprovoked assault” and questioned the moral standing of Wike’s wife, a sitting judge. “Sleeping daily in the same bed with someone like Wike will surely affect her sense of judgment. The judiciary is noble, and the background of a judge matters,” he said.
Eze did not spare Amaechi either, blaming him for introducing Wike to the political limelight. “The greatest mistake Amaechi made in his political life was making Wike a Local Government Chairman, then Chief of Staff, and later recommending him as Minister.”
He accused Wike of reversing the progress achieved under Amaechi’s administration in Rivers State. “Wike’s biggest legacy as Governor is the destruction of every people-centered policy and institution put in place by Amaechi. The agricultural programmes that would have boosted food security were scrapped, and educational scholarships that once made Rivers a hub for human capital were deliberately shut down.”
Eze concluded that Wike’s latest public remarks are nothing more than “a desperate attempt to rewrite his personal history and cast shadows on those who built him up.”
