Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, has strongly condemned the walkout staged on Friday, May 2, against the First Lady, Senator Oluremi Tinubu, by a group of women he said were loyal to the suspended Rivers State Governor, Siminalayi Fubara.
The incident occurred during the Renewed Hope Initiative empowerment programme, organised by the Office of the First Lady at the EUI Event Centre in GRA, Port Harcourt. The event was intended to benefit 500 women in the state with various empowerment items.
In a statement issued by his Senior Special Assistant on Public Communications and Social Media, Mr Lere Olayinka, Wike described the action as “very disturbing and embarrassing” and extended an apology to both the First Lady and President Bola Tinubu. “Insult on anyone representing the First Lady of Nigeria in an event is a direct insult on the office of the President and Commander-In-Chief of the Armed Forces of the Federal Republic of Nigeria,” Wike stated. “As a leader in Rivers State, I apologise.”
According to Olayinka, the walkout was led by “some sacked Local Government Vice Chairmen” who disrupted the programme in what Wike has characterised as a deliberate attempt to undermine decorum and peace in the state.
Wike, who is currently in China on official duties, took aim at Fubara’s supporters, urging them to “desist from ridiculing the state.” He also challenged the suspended governor to be honest about his intentions, saying, “It is not enough to be visiting people to plead for peace. Those who genuinely want peace work and act for it.”
He further accused the Fubara camp of hypocrisy, stating, “These are the same people pleading for peace, but at the same time doing things that are contrary to what they are pleading for. How can you say you want peace and at the same time, you are sponsoring people to insult everyone, including the president and his wife?”
Wike said the walkout would not be taken lightly and criticised what he called disingenuous calls for reconciliation. “All those shenanigans won’t bring peace, and I am sure they know that, because they are not sincere with their up and down pleadings for peace.”
Concluding his statement, the FCT Minister reaffirmed his disapproval of the incident. “As for me and those who subscribe to my leadership, we condemn in totality that yesterday’s show of shame and we apologise to our First Lady for the embarrassing conduct of those few women who do not represent the characters and ideals of the people of Rivers State.”
