The Rivers State chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC), under the court-recognized leadership backed by former Governor Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi, has issued a scathing rebuke to allies and spokespersons of the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, accusing them of disrespecting elder statesmen and distorting facts.
In a statement issued in Port Harcourt on Friday, May 2, 2025, Darlington Nwauju, spokesperson of the factional APC, condemned what he described as “choreographed responses” by Wike’s allies aimed at defending the FCT Minister amidst ongoing political tensions in Rivers State.
Nwauju particularly called out two of Wike’s staunch allies, Lere Olayinka and Tony Okocha, for issuing statements laced with “falsehood, incivility, and rascality” targeted at Chief Rufus Ada-George, a respected former governor of Rivers State.
He stated: “We find it distasteful and a collective insult on the sensibilities of all Rivers people that individuals with no credible standing routinely offer themselves to peddle political fairy tales in defence of a paymaster whose trademark is bullying, double-speak and manipulation.”
Referencing two press statements released on April 10, 2025, Nwauju accused Olayinka and Okocha of abandoning the substantive issues around Wike’s political manoeuvres and instead launching personal attacks on Chief Ada-George.
He described both men as agents hiding under “the shadow of an unrepentant bully,” adding: “The culture of disrespecting elders and mocking traditional rulers has become normal for their paymaster, but Rivers people reject such indecency.”
The factional spokesman dismissed Olayinka’s claim that Ada-George was indicted by the 2008 Kayode Eso Truth and Reconciliation Commission for sponsoring violence through the Bush Boys, challenging them to produce the report which, according to him, contains no such indictment.
On Tony Okocha’s accusations that Ada-George’s short tenure was marked by ethnic violence, Nwauju responded: “This is an infantile and baseless assertion. Okocha’s remarks reflect either historical ignorance or deliberate mischief.”
Nwauju also reminded the public of the legal rulings that have dismantled the APC caretaker committee and congresses influenced by Wike’s camp, saying: “It is lawless and disrespectful to cherry-pick which court rulings to obey.”
The faction extended a public apology to Chief Ada-George for what it called a malicious attempt to distort history and belittle his legacy, urging Rivers people to “judge facts, not fables.”
