The Senior Special Assistant on Public Communications and New Media to the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Minister, Nyesom Wike, Lere Olayinka, has criticized Afenifere chieftain Dr. Femi Okurounmu for his remarks accusing President Bola Tinubu of being passive about the ongoing political crisis in Rivers State.
Olayinka cautioned Okurounmu, urging him to avoid statements that could undermine his credibility as an elder statesman.
Okurounmu recently criticized Tinubu for his perceived inaction regarding the unrest in Rivers State, where Governor Siminalayi Fubara allegedly continues to defy court orders.
In response, Olayinka questioned “what exactly Okurounmu expected President Tinubu to have done,” suggesting that the elder statesman’s comments lacked objectivity.
Olayinka further expressed surprise that Okurounmu, a former senator, would seemingly ignore Fubara’s alleged defiance of the judiciary, which he warned poses serious risks to democracy and public order.
He said, “One is however not too amazed because he (Okurounmu) holds the record of being the first Senator to be suspended by his colleagues out of the seven Senators that have been suspended since 1999 till date.”
Dr Okurounmu had accused the FCT Minister of being the architect and mastermind of the Rivers crisis, saying, “Even if Governor Sim Fubara is his godson, Wike should be told that he cannot be his surrogate as a sitting governor with full powers.”
Responding, Olayinka asked when Wike told Dr Okurounmu that he wanted Governor Fubara to be his surrogate, and not function as the Governor of Rivers State, adding that “He (Okurounmu, as an elder should be honest enough to stand before the mirror and ask himself the roles he played in Fubara becoming governor.”
He said, “In Yorubaland, when two children are fighting, what the elders do is to sit them down and listen to their sides of the conflict. Elders don’t just sit in their bedrooms and apportion blame as done by Baba Femi Okurounmu.
“Was it Wike that went to the Rivers State House of Assembly Complex and set it on fire to prevent duly elected lawmakers from carrying out their duties?
“Was it Wike that has been illegally using three members out of the 32-member State House of Assembly to carry out legislative business in Rivers State, including passing the State Budget as well as screening and confirming commissioners, when the constitution says that budget can only be passed by two-thirds of the Assembly members?
“Hasn’t Governor Fubara been ignoring judgements of the courts concerning his regime of lawlessness in Rivers State? When the Court of Appeal in Abuja on October 10, 2024, affirmed a lower court’s decision nullifying Rivers State’s 2024 budget signed into law and being operated by Governor Fubara, did the governor obey the judgement?
“And is it not shocking that Dr Okurounmu had chosen to ignore the danger Governor Fubara’s deliberate affronts on the rule of law pose to democracy and peace in Nigeria?”
On Dr Okurounmu’s accusation that President Tinubu was being laid-back on the Rivers State crisis, Olayinka asked; “What exactly does Baba Femi Okurounmu expect the President to have done? Overrule the various judicial pronouncements and join Governor Fubara in his reign of lawlessness?
