The president of Ijaw National Congress ( INC) Prof B. O OKABA has criticised the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, over his recent apology to the First Lady, Senator Oluremi Tinubu.
Wike had apologised following a walkout by women during an empowerment event in Port Harcourt, where the First Lady was represented by the wife of the Sole Administrator.
Prof Okaba described the minister’s apology as unnecessary and misplaced. He strongly defended the suspended Governor of Rivers State, Siminalayi Fubara, saying the governor had no role in the protest.
He said Wike was the one undermining ongoing peace efforts and was creating roadblocks to reconciliation in the state.
According to prof Okaba, Wike had shown clear signs of dissatisfaction with the peace process and was looking for ways to disrupt it.
He noted that Wike had previously stated that Fubara should have been removed completely, which he saw as evidence of Wike’s unwillingness to accept any compromise.
He also referred to a recent protest by nursing students in Delta State as an example of how people express dissatisfaction without political sponsorship.
Okaba said the Rivers women simply wanted to be addressed by the First Lady herself or the governor’s wife.
Their actions, he explained, were based on disappointment after being told to expect the First Lady, only for the wife of the Sole Administrator to appear.
Okaba stated that the protest was not meant to insult the President or the First Lady, he said the women were reacting to what they saw as a deception and that their actions were aimed at rejecting what they viewed as an illegitimate administration in the state.
He also insisted that the women’s message was clear and targeted only at the Sole Administrator, not the federal authorities.
According to him, the protest was justified and should not be linked to any wrongdoing by Governor Fubara.
“So, for me, it does all show that Wike is the one who is double-tonguing, looking for every excuse to truncate the restoration process.”
“The women only expressed their disgust at the evil perpetrated by one sole administrator. He is an illegality, and nobody is afraid of saying so.”
“So, if they can say that anywhere, then the wife of the sole administrator wants to come and address who? As what?”
“The same women who demonstrated against the sole administrator, will you expect them to go and listen to the ‘rubbish’ that will come from his wife? I support what the women did, and I don’t see any confrontation against the Federal Government,” he said.