Nigerians have expressed anger and disgust at the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, for hosting the suspended members of the Rivers State House of Assembly to dinner in the United Kingdom.
The UK gathering followed Wike’s previous meeting with some political allies in Port Harcourt.
The minister’s media aide, Lere Olayinka, said the shared pictures of the meeting posted on social media triggered a wave of criticism.
Social media users took to their X (formerly Twitter) accounts to express disgust at the action of the minister in hosting the legislators outside the country, his penchant for chaos, and self-glorification.
Hosting the suspended legislators abroad, they contended, is disgraceful, doesn’t demonstrate good leadership, but instead highlights the depth of political manipulation by the political class.
Also, they lamented that the UK dinner reflects a lack of accountability and a misuse of taxpayers’ money.
@n64life questioned: “Why is Wike, a former governor of a state, being allowed to cause this much chaos unchallenged? What is this madness?”
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@waxdigitals said: “There’s nothing clean about this. Wike hosting suspended Rivers assembly members in the UK, clearly shows how deep the political manipulation runs. This is not leadership—it’s a power game, and it’s disgraceful.”
@kunmuadlokiki said: “So there’s not a single meeting room available in the whole of Nigeria? All of this is being done with stolen taxpayers’ money. Sometimes I wonder who cursed Nigeria and her politicians. You would never see this happen in a sane country that values accountability.”
@Realguky said: “They are most likely conspiring on the next steps to take. He’s also consoling them with the bag for losing their seats. Most likely, telling them to be calm. Some will be visiting the UK for the first time, and it’s a win for them too.”
@ubankwa said: “If not the greed and wickedness of our politicians, why would the suspended members allow him to control them? It shows they never had good intentions for their state. Because we all knew what Wike wanted.”
@young_shozy said: “Diabolical lot, Fubara is somewhere punching the air watching this. The power game is messy and easy to play in Nigeria because you hardly see people with integrity; with the right price, anyone can be bought. This is why we are where we are today.”
Overall, the event has been viewed as a troubling example of the power game prevalent in Nigerian politics.
