“Wike may soon insult you too” – Abati warns Tinubu

Reuben Abati, former presidential spokesperson and co-host of ARISE TV’s The Morning Show, has advised President Bola Tinubu to be cautious in his dealings with Nyesom Wike, the minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), warning that the former Rivers governor may soon turn his combative side toward the president himself.

Abati made this statement during Tuesday’s edition of the programme, reacting to comments Wike made a day earlier, where he dismissed former Minister of Transportation Rotimi Amaechi’s views on Nigeria’s economic hardship as “politically motivated.”

According to Abati, Wike has consistently shown a lack of regard for his political mentors, many of whom helped shape his rise to power.

“There is a basic principle in human relationships about your relationship with your bosses, I think Nyesom Wike is very rude and disrespectful,” he said.

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Tracing Wike’s political trajectory, Abati recalled that it was Amaechi who supported Wike’s emergence as chairman of Obio/Akpor local government during his (Amaechi’s) second term as governor. Wike later served as chief of staff to Amaechi between 2007 and 2011, before being nominated as minister of state for education under President Goodluck Jonathan, a move also linked to Amaechi’s backing.

The political alliance between the two collapsed ahead of the 2015 general elections when Wike succeeded Amaechi as governor of Rivers State. Their relationship has remained frosty ever since.

However, Abati’s concern stretches beyond the personal fallout between Wike and Amaechi, saying that Wike has developed a pattern of publicly turning against those who once helped him.

“Still talking about his hubris, he has abused Sir Peter Odili, an elder statesman; there is no name he has not called Dr Peter Odili and his wife,” Abati said.

“Odili, who governed Rivers from 1999 to 2007, was instrumental in Wike’s political beginnings, emphasising that Wike’s open criticism of Odili, including claims that the former governor does not qualify as an elder, is a glaring sign of his lack of political loyalty.

According to Abati, Wike has also taken jabs at other political figures, including Chief Olabode George, a founding member of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), whom he labelled “a ground rent debtor.”

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“In that interview, he pointed out that if he had known that President Tinubu was going to declare a state of emergency in Rivers, he would have offered a different kind of advice,” Abati said, implying that Wike’s statement subtly distances himself from the president’s decision.

“That is already a signal to President Tinubu… tomorrow he will abuse this same President Tinubu.”

Abati likened Wike’s behaviour to a tragic flaw, hubris, that blinds him to the value of loyalty and moderation, warning that Wike’s political style is driven by self-interest rather than party loyalty or respect for hierarchy.

“President Tinubu should beware,” he said, urging the president to take Wike’s past behaviour as a cautionary tale.