The war of words between the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, and the former Chairman of the National Human Rights Commission, Prof. Chidi Odinkalu, which began last Friday, is escalating.
The verbal clash erupted when Wike accused Odinkalu of ineptitude during his tenure as NHRC chairman and questioned his qualifications as a professor.
Wike criticized Odinkalu over a write-up regarding the unveiling of the N10 billion FCT Renewed Hope programme, which saw 80 vehicles introduced into the FCT transport system.
The FCT minister stated that the human rights lawyer lacked an exemplary record during his time at the NHRC. He remarked, “Someone showed me a write-up they said was written by a professor. I asked, ‘Professor of which university?’ Nobody knows.
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He continued, “They were given opportunities in the Human Rights Commission. Ask them about their performance. What was the record during the time he was allowed to serve? Zero!”
In a swift response, Odinkalu took to his official X handle to counter Wike, labeling him a “greedy glutton” unfit to lecture others on ethical conduct.
He tweeted: “In Abuja, @GovWike is flexing. He is a #LifeBencher inebriated on substances that may or may not be just power. He can buy whomever he wants with public money to do whatever he desires. But even that has a shelf life. This idiocy will end one day too.”
Odinkalu added, “Unlike @GovWike, I have a life outside messing about with the #PublicPurse. I left @NhrcNigeria nine years ago, and I have no interest or desire to maintain a ‘structure’ there. A greedy glutton has no business giving lectures on the virtues of being teetotal!”
Odinkalu also took to his LinkedIn page early Sunday morning to further question Wike’s credibility as a public servant.
He stated, “#NyesomWike became a member of the Nigerian Bar Association HQ in 1991 and promptly mistook #TheBar for an invitation to get hopelessly drunk. In the same decade, he began his political career, starting with local government.”
He continued, “In the 25 years since he first held public office as the Chair of Obio/Akpor LGA in Rivers State in 1999, Mr. Wike has held various other positions in succession: Chief of Staff to the Governor of Rivers State, Minister of State for Education, and two-term governor of Rivers State. In August 2023, he became the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).”
Odinkalu added, “Over this quarter-century, Mr. Wike has evolved into the quintessential #GovernmentIndigene. He has emerged as the #GreedyGlutton of the Nigerian political space, bingeing on every beverage the country can offer: power, public money, the judiciary, treachery, violence, vintage alcohol, and much more.”
He concluded, “Inebriated as he is with substances financed by the #PublicPurse, Mr. Wike now thinks he must be #WorshippedAndGlorified. But #Nigeria is not his grove, and we did not escort him to the country. His gluttonous lips have done enough damage being perennially clasped around #Nigeria’s sovereign #FeedingBottle.”
