The Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, on Tuesday criticised former Rivers State Governor and ex-Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi, over his involvement in the recent “Occupy the National Assembly” protests.
Speaking at the 2026 Distinguished Personality Lecture Series of the Faculty of Social Sciences, Wike, accompanied by two of his sons, ridiculed Amaechi’s claim that he brought his son—a medical doctor—to the protest to provide emergency care for participants.
“The other day, some people went for a demonstration, and somebody said, ‘I brought my son here, who is a medical doctor in case anyone falls down.’ Meanwhile, the child has no medical equipment with him. Meanwhile, there’s no ambulance there with him in case anybody slumps,” Wike said.
The FCT Minister also accused opposition leaders of hypocrisy, questioning why those now demanding transparency were silent on similar reforms when they held influential positions in government.
“People are talking about electronic transmission today, why are they not asking who were responsible that there was no electronic transmission in the last election? When they are out of office, they’ll be borrowing the people’s voice; when they are inside office, they won’t say anything,” Wike added.
Amaechi’s participation in the protests was to opposed the Senate’s rejection of mandatory electronic transmission. Amaechi defended his actions, saying leaders should be physically present during major demonstrations to stand with the people, and alleged that the ruling All Progressives Congress opposed the move out of “fear of losing elections.”
