The Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Barrister Nyesom Wike, has responded to former Rivers State Governor, Dr. Peter Odili, saying “an elder statesman should not be a trader and a sycophant all the time.”
Wike, who spoke at the Special Thanksgiving Service organized by the Speaker of the Rivers State House of Assembly, Hon. Martin Chike Amaewhule of the Church of Nigeria (Anglican Communion), Archdeacon Church of the Holy Spirit Oro-Igwe/Eliogbolo, Eliozu Parish, Port Harcourt, on Sunday said it was unfortunate that someone who is supposed to be seen as an elder statesman and called father can be reduced to a flatterer and a merchant.
He asked; “Must you be a trader all the time? As governor for eight years, what else are you looking for?”
The Minister said; “You know, I didn't want to say anything. But someone called me last night and told me what someone said on social media. I said until I read it myself. This morning I read in the newspapers what our former Governor, Sir Dr. Peter Odili, said.
“What did he say? He said the current governor was able to arrest a man who wanted to turn Rivers State into his property.
“Between him and me, who has turned Rivers State into his personal wealth? His wife is president of the Government Council, his daughter is a commissioner, his other daughter is a judge and he is the general supervisor. Who has now made Rivers State their private property? I'm sure if you're not careful, if there's a chance, you can even arrange a marriage for the governor.
“It was his nephew, the son of his late older brother, who was recommended for commissioner. He took the slot and gave it to his own daughter. Is someone who didn't remember to represent his late older brother's son an elder statesman?
Furthermore, the FCT Minister said it was painful that Dr Odili, out of political flattery, had forgotten everything he said in the past, adding; “All of you here remember that when I was governor, this same Odili praised me to the heavens. In fact, he then said that all the previous governors of Rivers State put together did not fare better than me.
“In 2007, after leaving office, he could not come close to power in the state because Amaechi was the governor then. It was gone!
“As if someone said God will use someone to lift someone up. When I became governor in 2015, I won't use the word resurrected, but I brought him back to life.
“We all know PAMO University. If it weren't for us, there would have been nothing called PAMO University. Rivers State sponsored 100 students per session and for each semester, each of the students paid no less than N5 million. Then, the Rivers people attacked me from top to bottom.
“I called Julius Berger to build him a mansion to live in. So I was calling everyone to the house and telling them: come and see what Wike has done for me. Wike has shown me love. I was taking them around the house.
“Now, since you have organized a Christmas carol for the governor, I didn't tell you that you shouldn't do it. But why reduce yourself to being a laughingstock? People will still see on television how he told the whole world how God used me to bring him back to political life.
“Why don't you sing your Christmas story, collect what you can and leave me alone?
“The governor we all made has not been in office for a year and Odili himself was already saying that the governor has broken the records of all the previous governors of Rivers State.
“When I was there, he said he had broken the records of all the previous governors, including himself. What can you even show that you have done in your eight years as governor? But a governor has not worked even a year, you say he has done more than all previous governors.
“You were eight years as governor and someone who hasn't been there for a year has surpassed your records, what kind of old man talks like that? Is that what an elder statesman should be known for?
“When I was governor, my photographs were everywhere in his house. In the living room, in the bedroom, in the kitchen, even in the bathroom, my photo was everywhere. But today they have deleted all the photographs.”
Asking what can be learned from such an elder statesman, Wike said; “What can I learn from this kind of old man? What kind of advice can you receive from him? At this moment you are saying something, the next moment you are saying something else.
“You see, if your children start asking you, isn't this the same man you praised before? What would you tell them?
On the issue of State governance, the Minister asked; “When I was planning who would be the governor after me, was he (Odili) there? Then he complained about this governor, saying that he could not appear before the public to speak. But today he is organizing A Christmas Carol for the same governor he opposed then.
“He has forgotten everything he said in the past. I named this after you, I named this after your wife. What haven't I done?
“You said we should not be part of the government, we are gone. We are managing, you have taken money from the assembly, they are not starving and they will not starve. We're ok. I am concentrating on my work in Abuja and all this adulation will not take it to the level I have reached.
“This is a man who wanted to run for president back then, had no guts and chickened out. Simply because Obasanjo said no, he will not compete, he ran away. Because of him, I never invited Obasanjo to Rivers State to commission projects. I felt like I would humiliate him.”