‘I don’t engage in childish insults,’ Amaechi hits back at Wike

The former Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi, has stated that he will not stoop to the level of a child by exchanging insults with the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike.

This response came after Wike mocked the former Rivers State governor, alleging that Amaechi was not hungry for food, as claimed in his 60th birthday speech, but rather for power.

Wike said, “We have no time to listen to nonsense in Nigeria. I don’t understand why a man like Amaechi would choose his 60th birthday to lie to Nigerians about being hungry.

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“He was Speaker from 1999 to 2007, Governor from 2007 to 2015, and Minister from 2015 to 2023. He never spoke about hunger during those years.

“Now they are regrouping. They are only hungry for power. This shows his failure. How can you trivialise the issue of hunger? He joined Atiku and claimed hunger. He cannot stay out of power. From 1999 to 2023, Amaechi stood before Nigerians and claimed hunger. He was a former governor who couldn’t secure even 25% for Buhari during elections, despite being the campaign DG.”

In reply, Amaechi told Arise Television on Tuesday that Wike was once his chief of staff and therefore politically subordinate.

“I was once his boss, whether he likes it or not. I hired him. I could have said no. God, Peter Odili, the judiciary, and the people of Rivers State made me governor. I say this because I don’t want to engage in childish disputes.”

“I was the one God used to make Amaechi governor. I even have a tape from church where he said that after God, I’m next. But he went on national television to say that I was his staff, his employee. It wasn’t funny, but I said no problem.

“We all sat to make him governor, and I championed it. How do you call someone who made you governor an employee?

“Even after he became governor, he sought my advice on running his government and offered me commissioner of finance, but I rejected it because I wanted to remain chief of staff.”

Denying Wike’s claim, Amaechi stressed that the FCT minister was his chief of staff and that he could have declined the appointment.

“Ask him how he made me governor. I wanted him as chief of staff so I could supervise him. I didn’t offer him commissioner for finance. He made himself chief of staff, governor, minister, and local government chairman,” he said.

Amaechi also criticised Wike’s political style, accusing him of immaturity and tarnishing his family name.

“There is no longer respect for family names. People say and do anything,” Amaechi lamented.