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The Senator representing the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Ireti Kingibe, has demanded an apology from the FCT Minister, Nyesom Wike, over the latter's utterances against her.
Wike, the immediate past Governor of Rivers State, and Kingibe have been on a warpath in recent times over the running of the FCT administration.
The Labour Party senator accused Wike of failing to keep her in the loop regarding programmes and projects in the FCT which the minister said he's not obligated to do.
The lawmaker also claimed that the former Governor is deliberating making attempts to sabotage her efforts to allow her predecessor, Senator Philip Aduda of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), whom she defeated in the 2023 election, to reclaim the FCT seat in 2027.
In what seemed like a confirmation of the Kingibe's allegation, Wike while speaking at the Flag-off of the Mabushi Bus Terminal in Abuja earlier this month, warned the senator that she would lose the support of FCT residents in the next general elections.
The minister said it was disappointing that rather than collaborating with the FCT Administration, the lawmaker was angry that the residents were praising President Bola Tinubu's administration.
He also told Kingibe to hang herself on a transformer if she was so displeased with his performance in FCT.
Kingibe fires back at Wike
Reacting, the Labour Party senator said Wike's utterances showed that he doesn't understand the concept of leadership in the FCT, adding that courtesy demands that the minister should not speak to her in such a manner.
She declared this in an interview on Channels Television’s Political Paradigm programme, where she also said she was far older than the minister.
“He doesn’t obviously understand the concept of the FCT. If he did, it is nothing personal. He says, ‘I don’t want to be her friend.’ How does governance translate into friendship?
“I’m actually willing to do everything to work with the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory as long as he apologises first for saying I should go and hang on a transformer.
“Once he does that, it is all over. We can start afresh but until then, everybody stays in your lane. With all due respect, I am so much older than him. Even courtesy demands he should not speak to me like that,” she said.