Nyesom Wike, the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, has criticized Rotimi Amaechi, the former Minister of Transportation and the governor of Rivers State, for his involvement in the “Occupy the National Assembly” demonstrations.
Wike, who attended the event with two of his sons, gave the keynote address at the Faculty of Social Sciences’ 2026 Distinguished Personality Lecture Series on Tuesday.
He made fun of Amaechi’s assertion that he brought his son, a doctor, to the protest in order to provide emergency care for attendees.
The FCT Minister said, “The other day, some people went for a demonstration, and somebody said, ‘I brought my son here, who is a medical doctor, in case anyone falls down.
“Meanwhile, the child has no medical equipment with him. Meanwhile, there’s no ambulance there with him in case anybody slumps.”
Wike went on to charge opposition leaders with being hypocritical. He questioned why people who are now demanding transparency remained mute about these measures despite holding powerful government positions.
He said, “People are talking about electronic transmission today. Why are they not asking who those were who were responsible for there being no electronic transmission in the last election?
“When they are out of office, they’ll be borrowing the people’s voice; when they are inside the office, they won’t say anything.”
Wike’s criticism comes after Chronicle NG reported earlier in February that Amaechi took part in protests over the Senate’s decision to reject mandatory electronic transmission.
Amaechi claimed that his choice was a reflection of his conviction that leaders ought to join the people in large-scale demonstrations and be physically present rather than observing from a distance.
He further said that the proposal was rejected by the ruling All Progressives Congress because of “fear of losing elections.”
