Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Minister, Nyesom Wike, has condemned Friday’s walkout on the First Lady, Senator Oluremi Tinubu, by a group of women loyal to the suspended Governor of Rivers State, Siminalayi Fubara.
The Minister, in a statement on Saturday by his Senior Special Assistant on Public Communications and Social Media, Lere Olayinka, apologised to the First Lady and President Bola Ahmed Tinubu on behalf of the people of Rivers State, describing the incident as an embarrassment to the state.
He said, “Insult on anyone representing the First Lady of Nigeria in an event is a direct insult on the office of the President and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, and as a leader in Rivers State, I apologize.”
According to the statement, some women, led by sacked local government vice chairmen, staged a walkout during the Renewed Hope Initiative empowerment programme organised by the Office of the First Lady of Nigeria, held at the EUI Event Centre in GRA, Port Harcourt, on Friday. The programme was intended to benefit 500 women in the state with various empowerment items.
The FCT Minister, who is currently in China on official engagements, described the incident as “very disturbing and embarrassing,” cautioning supporters of the suspended governor to desist from ridiculing the state.
The Minister counselled the suspended governor to demonstrate honesty by being bold enough to tell President Tinubu what exactly he wanted, rather than saying one thing today and doing another tomorrow.
He said; “It is not enough to be visiting people to plead for peace, those who genuinely want peace work and act for it.
“These are the same people pleading for peace, but at the same time doing things that are contrary to what they are pleading for.
“How can you say you want peace and at the same time, you are sponsoring people to insult everyone, including the President and his wife?
“All those shenanigans won’t bring peace, and I am sure they know that, because they are not sincere with their up and down pleadings for peace.
“As for me and those who subscribe to my leadership, we condemn in totality that yesterday’s show of shame and we apologize to our First Lady for the embarrassing conduct of those few women who do not represent the characters and ideals of the people of Rivers State.”