- The governor had espoused the message of life’s impermanence and how inordinate ambition and vicious quest for power could be thwarted by death.
Founder of the Stanbic IBTC Bank, Atedo Peterside, says the manner the Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, conducted himself at the funeral of the late Access Bank CEO, Herbert Wigwe in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, is worrisome.
The Senate President came under castigation for chastising Rivers State Governor, Siminalayi Fubara, over his statement at the funeral and turning the sacred occasion into some political bickering.
The governor had espoused the message of life’s impermanence and how inordinate ambition and vicious quest for power could be thwarted by death.
Governor Fubara had said, “What is this struggle all about? You want to kill, you want to bury, what is it all about? This is a man, he’s not a politician. He made his money through us, our investments.
“He has the world in his palm financially. He controls even the political classes. But today, with all the power financially, can’t control life.
“Is it not enough today to ask ourselves, why are we struggling? Why are we not making an impact in the lives of our people? Please, political class, let’s go home with that question, and be answering it in our minds, and reflecting it in what we do.”
But Senator Akpabio who was visibly resentful of Fubara’s message and for some reason saw it as a slight on his person, took to the podium to respond.
He said if there was nothing in the struggle for politics, the governor should quit office.
The Senate President said, “We’re not going to cry in one day alone, we’ll cry so many days. When you look at the university, you will cry.
“When you pass through his personal house and edifice, you will cry. Any of the Access Bank branches worldwide, whether the one in Dubai, or whether the one in Kenya or anywhere, you will cry.
“The children that he touched, those that he sent to school and the lives he touched, when they are talking about it and they mention his name, you will cry.
“Then you will ask yourself, just like Governor Fubara said, what is the struggle all about? Your excellency, Governor Fubara, if there is nothing in the struggle, don’t struggle.”
In his reaction, Peterside in a post on his X (formerly Twitter) said the comments of Akpabio were in poor state.
He added that it was insensitive of the Senate President to first complain that the candidate of the Labour Party in the 2023 presidential election, Peter Obi received greater applause than he did.
For the record, I was among those who found the Senate President's comments at the Wigwe Family Funeral in PH to be in poor taste. He began by lamenting that @PeterObi received greater applause than he (Akpabio) got & later told us to join him in consoling the widow who was lying… https://t.co/xIj9el3wGK
— Atedo Peterside (@AtedoPeterside) March 11, 2024
The Stanbic IBTC Bank boss also flayed Akpabio for asking the people at the funeral to join him in consoling Wigwe’s wife who was also lying dead in one of the three caskets in their front.
He said, “For the record, I was among those who found the Senate President’s comments at the Wigwe Family Funeral in PH to be in poor taste.
“He began by lamenting that @PeterObi received greater applause than he (Akpabio) got & later told us to join him in consoling the widow who was lying in one of the 3 caskets in front of him. Jokes?
“Political jibes at a solemn Combined Funeral? Methinks that was self-centred & totally insensitive.”
POPULAR TODAY
Discussion about this post