Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Minister Nyesom Wike has challenged Senator Ireti Kingibe to travel to the satellite towns and campaign against his service in President Bola Tinubu’s cabinet if she is confident in her political credentials.
Senior Special Assistant on Public Communications and Social Media to the FCT Minister, Lere Olayinka, said in a statement on Tuesday that Kingibe is already blinded by the spirit of her impending electoral defeat and will never see the positive transformation taking place in Abuja and the FCT satellite towns.
On Monday night, the senator stated on television that Tinubu’s worst mistake was appointing Wike as Minister of the FCT.
However, Olayinka said, “It is funny that someone who is impersonating by using the name of Ambassador Baba Gana Kingibe, who is no longer her husband, believes that jumping from one television station to another to disparage the FCT Minister will revive her dead political career.”
He therefore “challenged Ireti to go to communities like Saburi, Dei Dei, Kabusa, Ketti, Yangoji, Pai, Gomani, Gishiri, Kwaita, Yebu, Yangoji, Sukuku, Ebo, Ushafa and others that now have good roads, to mount the rostrum and tell the people that President Tinubu made a mistake by appointing Wike as FCT Minister.”
“Most importantly, she can also visit traders in the Apo Mechanic Village, whose dream of being relocated to a permanent site is being fulfilled more than 15 years later, as well as those residing along Apo-Wasa road, and tell them it was a mistake that Wike was appointed as FCT Minister.
“In Abaji, Federal Capital Territory University, Abaji (FCTU), a university established close to 15 years ago but abandoned, is now witnessing a massive infrastructural development.
“Also, general renovation of 22 schools has been done in the last 12 months, while renovation of more than 40 others is ongoing.
“As expected of someone already blinded by the spirit of a coming defeat, Ireti, alias Kingibe, won’t see all these. The reason is she knows that in 2027, she won’t be able to retain the Senate seat she accidentally got in 2023. She knows that the factor that got her to the Senate is no longer available, and she is desperate to use attacks on Wike to gain political leverage.
“Unfortunately, Wike is not in the comity of frustrated politicians like Ireti ‘Kingibe’, who is treating her aides like slaves, refusing to pay their wages and entitlements for months,” Olayinka said.
While encouraging Ireti to be real, Olayinka stated, “At 71, a woman should have a clear identity, use her legitimate names, and stop using the name of a man she is no longer married to.”
![Rev. Fr. Anthony Odiong, a US-based Nigerian Louisiana Catholic priest, was arrested in Florida on Tuesday for possessing child pornography, according to law authorities. The suspect is reportedly accused of many other cases of sexual assault. The Waco, Texas, Police Department announced in a Facebook post on Tuesday that officers detained Father Anthony Odiong in Ave Maria, Florida, with assistance from the United States Marshals Service. Waco police announced in March that they had received "credible information" about a sexual assault allegedly committed by Odiong in Texas in 2012. “During the subsequent investigation, a case of possession of child pornography was uncovered,” the police said. The priest was apprehended in Florida by the Caribbean Regional Fugitive Task Force. The Waco Police Department said that he will be extradited to Texas. Odiong had previously served in the Archdiocese of New Orleans before being removed as priest in December of last year due to controversy over homilies in which he claimed, among other things, that the Catholic Church was being taken over by "the gays." At the time, the priest was also accused of abusive behaviour; a Louisiana lady claimed in U.S. bankruptcy court that Odiong had committed both financial and sexual abuse against her. Prior to joining the New Orleans Archdiocese, Odiong served in at least two Texas parishes. On Tuesday, Waco police stated that during their sexual assault investigation, "the presence of other survivors was revealed." “Multiple women have come forward to tell similar experiences as the sexual assault survivor who reported the initial allegation,” the police department said. “Survivors’ experiences ranged from sexual assault and indecent assault, more commonly recognised as groping, and financial abuse, with some survivors experiencing every element of Anthony Odiong’s manipulation.” The police said they “believe there may be more survivors, and we wish to speak with anyone who [has] had similar encounters” with the priest. The Archdiocese of New Orleans issued a brief news release on Tuesday noting Odiong's arrest in Florida. The archdiocese “encourages anyone with any information to contact law enforcement,” the release said.](https://chronicle.ng/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/ezgif-6-4730550ede-450x300.jpg "Odiong: US-based Nigerian Catholic priest convicted over sexual assault")