Nyesom Wike, the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, criticised former Rivers State Governor Peter Odili on Sunday, calling him an ingrate and a rent-seeker for supporting incumbent Governor Siminalayi Fubara.
Wike was responding to Odili’s recent statement that Fubara prevented him (Wike) from converting Rivers into his estate.
His media assistant, Leke Olayinka, said in a statement on Sunday that Wike was the speaker at a Special Thanksgiving Service held at the Church of Nigeria (Anglican Communion), Oro-Igwe/Eliogbolo Archdeaconry Church of the Holy Spirit, Eliozu Parish, Port Harcourt, which was organised by Martin Amaewhule, the factional Speaker of the Rivers State House of Assembly.
Wike described how he constructed a home for the former governor and claimed that Odili had some of his relatives working for the Rivers State government, converting Rivers into his estate. Wike called Odili an ingrate.
“Are you required to trade constantly? What else are you after eight years as governor? I didn’t want to say anything, you know. However, I received a call yesterday night informing me of what someone had posted on social media. Until I read it myself, I said. I read in the press this morning what Sir Dr Peter Odili, our former governor, had to say.
“What did he say? He claimed that one man’s attempt to turn Rivers State into his estate was thwarted by the current governor. Who has transformed Rivers State into his estate, him or me? He is the general supervisor, his wife is the chairman of the governing council, his daughter is a commissioner, and his other daughter is a judge. Now, who has made Rivers State his personal property? I do not doubt that he could even set up the governor’s marriage if caution is not used.
“Since Amaechi was the governor at the time, he was unable to gain any sway over the state after leaving office in 2007.
“He has vanished! God will use someone to uplift someone, as someone once stated. “I won’t use the word resurrected, but I brought him back to life when I took office as governor in 2015,” Wike stated.
In addition, the Minister said that Odili had complimented him as superior to the previous state governors, calling the former governor a laughing stock.
“You all recall that this same Odili gave me a lot of accolades while I was governor. He stated at the time that I did not perform any better than the sum of the previous governors of Rivers State.
“Now, I didn’t say you shouldn’t perform your Christmas Carol because you have prepared one for the governor. Why make yourself such a laughing stock, though? On television, people can still see how he told the world and then how God used me to revive him politically.
“The governor that we all elected hasn’t been in office for a year, and the same Odili had already claimed that the governor had surpassed all previous Rivers State governors’ records. He claimed that I had outperformed all previous governors, including himself when I was there. In his eight years as governor, what exactly can he demonstrate? You claim that a governor has accomplished more than any previous governor, although he hasn’t even been in office for a year.”
The Minister added that the previous governor had failed in his campaign for president and that he had no accomplishments in his eight years in office. He also mentioned that former governor Odili had rejected Fubara’s emergency as governor of Rivers State.
“What kind of senior talks like that? You served as governor for eight years, and someone who hasn’t served even a year has eclipsed your records. Should an elder statesman be known for that?
“Was he there, Odili, when I was planning who would succeed me as governor? At that point, he was moaning about this governor, claiming that he was unable to speak in front of the public. He is already planning a Christmas Carol for the same governor he opposed back then, though.
“Everything he previously said has been forgotten. That was named after your wife, and this after you. What have I failed to do? In the past, this individual had considered running for president, but he chickened out because he lacked the necessary skills. Obasanjo fled merely because he refused to contest his refusal. He is the reason I never asked Obasanjo to inaugurate projects in Rivers State. Wike remarked, “I thought it would make him look bad.”
