'Wike not a character Tinubu should promote' - Dele Momodu warns President

Veteran journalist and Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) stalwart Dele Momodu has urged President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to refrain from promoting Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, warning that Wike is not a figure worthy of national elevation.

In a sharp rebuke aired following Wike’s appearance on Channels Television’s Politics Today, Momodu accused the former Rivers State governor of being consumed by power and unfit for political empowerment ahead of the 2027 elections.

“My appeal to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu is that no matter what you are expecting to gain from Wike in 2027, Wike is not the kind of character you should promote.

“He is not the kind of young man who should hijack our common patrimony,” Momodu said.

Momodu claimed Wike’s personality had been distorted by the privileges of public office, describing him as someone transformed by unchecked political power and money.

“When a man who had been a nobody gets power, he begins to change slowly and steadily.

“The oppressed man respects only one man: the oppressor,” Momodu added, alluding to Wike’s former loyalty to ex-Rivers Governor Rotimi Amaechi.

“Wike used to respect only one man – Rotimi Amaechi.”

He traced Wike’s alleged transformation to his days as a local government chairman, arguing that the influence of power and money had negatively shaped the minister’s character.

“Of course, after power in Nigeria comes the spirit of money. Also very demonic if you don’t know how to manage it well,” he said.

Momodu also recounted their personal fallout, revealing that he once enjoyed a close working relationship with Wike in 2022 before the relationship deteriorated as both men vied for the PDP’s 2023 presidential ticket, eventually losing to Atiku Abubakar.