Wike also accused the Senator of blackmailing him instead of communicating her problems through the right channels
By Kehinde Okeowo
Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, has advised the Senator representing the nation’s capital, Ireti Kingibe, to concentrate on her job at the upper chamber of the federal legislative house and leave him alone.
According to him, he does not want to be her friend and he cannot be coerced into becoming one.
He made this known recently during an interview with journalists in Abuja, where he lambasted the Senator, accusing her of blackmailing him instead of communicating her problems through the right channels.
The former Rivers State Governor during the chat also urged her to focus on her oversight functions, instead of visiting media houses to disparage him.
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He went on to allege that the lawmaker is aggrieved because the Senate President did not appoint her as the Chairman of Senate Committee on FCT.
Speaking during the interview, Wike said: “I don’t want to be personal…she’s the Senator for FCT. She went around saying ‘oh, oh Wike is busy scraping roads…I should leave the roads till when the potholes come?” Wike said.
“Somebody wants to be your friend and you say ‘I don’t want to be your friend. Is it by force?’ The problem is that she wanted to be Chairman, Senate Committee on FCT and the Senate President said ‘I’m not giving you’.
‘What are you going to supervise me? You cannot supervise me. What is her interest, that I must see her? If I have a problem I’ll go and see her. I don’t have a problem. Nobody can intimidate me. Look, I was a Minister before. I became a governor of one of the most important states in Nigeria and she thinks that the only way you can bring me is to go to Channel, TVC, saying the Minister is not carrying me along.
“I don’t have the back to carry. It’s not about blackmailing. Do the right thing. You know her problem? She ran election with my friend Philip Aduda and she sees me taking Philip everywhere instead of her being the Senator. Should I abandon my friend because she failed election?”
