It’ll be difficult for Amaechi to campaign in Rivers — Wike

The Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Barr. Nyesom Wike, has warned that it will be difficult for ex-Minister of Transportation Rotimi Amaechi to campaign in Rivers State if he continues to attack President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and his supporters.

Wike, who spoke on Friday in Abuja after a meeting with the chairmen of the six area councils of the FCT, was reacting to comments attributed to Amaechi, a vice-presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), who allegedly said that only thieves and mad people would vote for President Tinubu.

“If he continues along this line, it will be difficult for him to campaign in Rivers. We will not take that. If security agencies and INEC can fold their hands, that’s their business, but we will not allow it,” Wike said.

He described Amaechi as a “bloody thief and lunatic” who would never become president of Nigeria.

Wike said agencies such as the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) should sanction politicians who engage in personal attacks instead of issue-based campaigns.

“You see, one problem we have in this country is that agencies or commissions should be able to take their functions seriously. Many Nigerians have called on INEC to sanction political parties, candidates or some politicians who, during their campaigns, incite the public or raise matters that are not issue-based,” he said.

“All of us watched on television yesterday where he said it’s only thieves that can vote for Bola Ahmed Tinubu, only mad people can vote for Bola Ahmed Tinubu, and that if Edo people vote for him, it means Edo people are mad. This is supposedly a vice-presidential candidate of a political party seeking to take over power,” Wike said.

The FCT minister challenged Amaechi to account for projects undertaken during his tenure as governor of Rivers State.

“I have challenged him to tell Nigerians: where is our $39 million cassava flour mill which you claimed you built? Where is the $10 million you paid to a Cuban company to fumigate Rivers State so there will be no mosquito bites? Where is the N68 billion monorail? Where is the $308 million you sold our gas turbine for?

“Amaechi has looted the treasury. Ask him why he was indicted by a judicial panel of inquiry and why he went to court to challenge that indictment and lost at the Supreme Court,” Wike alleged.