The Minister of Rivers and the Senate Leader’s Lament
Foreword: The House Divided
And it came to pass that even within the very palace of Aso Rock, where King Bola held court, a spirit of disquiet began to stir. For though the king sought to solidify his reign and prepare his chariots for the contest of 2027, the seeds of discord were sown amongst his own trusted counselors and mighty men. This scroll shall lay bare the inner turmoil, the jealousies, and the subtle acts of treachery that did afflict the king’s cabinet, even as the nation looked on with bated breath.
Now, in those days, there arose a great contention between Nyesom, who was called Wike, the minister appointed over the Federal City of Abuja, and Godswill, who was called Akpabio, the leader of the Senate of Elders. For Wike, a man of fiery tongue and unyielding spirit, though yet a member of the People’s Democratic Party, did walk within the king’s inner circle, and his utterances were as thunder in the ears of many.
And it was heard in the marketplaces and on the digital scrolls that Wike did speak words of scorn against Akpabio. For Wike did declare in a public gathering, just last week, that Akpabio, when he served as Minister of the Niger Delta, performed but poorly, and his works were not worthy of praise.
And on this very day, Wike did further cast a stone at Akpabio, for he did appeal unto King Bola, saying, “Let the King publish the forensic audit report of the Niger Delta Development Commission, even that report which was commissioned to uncover the deep-seated corruption within that agency.” And the people murmured, for it was widely known that Akpabio, while he held sway in that ministry, did scuttle the very audit and suppress its findings, for many believed him to be the chief culprit of the malfeasance therein.
Yet, many also cried aloud, questioning the righteousness of Wike, for his own hands were not clean of the dust of controversy. For it was remembered that Wike had not rendered account for the hundred and fifteen billion naira, a vast sum, which he did withdraw in a single day from the coffers of Zenith Bank when he was governor of Rivers State.
Neither had Wike explained the seventy-eight billion naira, a king’s ransom, which was refunded by the former King Muhammadu unto Rivers State, being the sum which Chibuike, called Amaechi, his predecessor, had expended on federal projects in the land of Rivers. The people longed for transparency, yet Wike remained silent on these matters.
And the tale continued, for Wike had not given account for the colossal sum of thirty-nine billion naira, which he claimed to have expended on repainting the International Conference Centre in Abuja, a place now renamed in honor of King Bola. Yet, only yesterday, Wike did declare with much boastfulness that this same renovated center now yielded six hundred and fifty million naira monthly, as against the paltry sixty million naira it fetched before, a claim that raised eyebrows and questions of how such a transformation could occur from mere paint.
Furthermore, the scribes and the common folk did whisper of the hundreds of billions of naira in bloated contracts which Wike did award as governor of Rivers, and those he now awards as FCT minister, without due process or adherence to the Treasury Single Account, which was established to bring order to public funds.
And Wike was also questioned concerning the hundreds of billions of naira and millions of dollars he hath borrowed as FCT minister, for which he hath given no clear account. And the cries of the workers in Abuja did rise to the heavens, for their salaries remained unpaid, even as Wike did seize thousands of plots of land within the city, causing much distress among the populace.
Verily, Wike, though a stalwart of the People’s Democratic Party, was seen by many as a fox in the hen house, systematically dismantling the All Progressives Congress and its loyalists from within, all with the subtle blessing of King Bola, who perhaps saw advantage in the disarray of his own camp.
And the followers of King Bola, whom some did deride as “BATists” or “brainless morons,” did cheer this inebriated clowning parrot, as he cast aspersions upon the very members of their party. For these same scarecrows, who once proclaimed that Amaechi was hungry and thus sought a new coalition, now gleefully spread Wike’s drunken belches, even the slanderous claim that Amaechi’s wife did draw four billion naira monthly from the NDDC, a charge Wike laid bare only yesterday in public view, without offering proof.
Thus, it became as clear as the noonday sun that one could not be a “BATist” without first surrendering his wits and common sense.