- Wike’s rise to power made possible by My struggles, say Sani
- On June 28, Wike slammed Sani and Mike Ozekhome,a senior advocate of Nigeria, over their opinions on the current administration.
The Former Senator representing Kaduna central, Shehu Sani, has said Nyesom Wike, minister of the federal capital territory (FCT), is a beneficiary of his struggle for democracy by during the military junta.
Sani, who spoke in an interview with Channels Television, said Wike’s rise to political prominence was facilitated by the democratic struggles of other anti-military rule activists.
He was reacting to Wike’s recent remark at an event questioning how much significance his presence made to make Nigeria better when he was a senator.
On June 28, Wike slammed Sani and Mike Ozekhome,a senior advocate of Nigeria, over their opinions on the current administration.
The minister spoke at ‘This Nigeria Lecture and Award’ an event held at Abuja with the theme : ’25 Years of Unbroken Democracy — Challenges, Prospects and Possibilities’.
The trio were under the same roof as dignitaries at the event, of which the former Kaduna senator had asked President Bola Tinubu to wake up and solve the problem of hunger in Nigeria.
Ozekhome also asked President Bola Tinubu to go out and feel the pulse of Nigerians, adding that Nigeria is not really practising democracy
The calls were not welcomed by Wike, therefore, he tackled the duo by questioning their decency in making such claims.
Wike had questioned Sani for making such calls, asking that the former lawmaker tell Nigerians his key achievements in all the years he spent at the national assembly as a senator.
“So I said that I’ll put this to you and to tell my brother friend, for the main fact that you people were activists does not mean that you’ll do well, no,” Wike had said.
“Activists have always failed. We’ve seen activists that were given appointments and yet they failed. When you were in the Senate, how did you perform? What was our performance as Senator?.”
Reacting, Sani asked where Wike was when he was locked up in Port Harcourt prison during the military junta.
Sani accused Wike of intentionally asking to speak last at events so as to escape responses to his comments.
“Wike is my good friend. I would have preferred to reply to him at an event rather than on the TV,” Sani said.
“I have attended two events where he strategically placed himself at the end of the event and made sure nobody replied him but I believe that when an opportunity comes next, I am going to take him on.
“But nobody can demean the struggle we did to free Nigeria from military dictatorship.
“If not for the struggles we did to de-establish military dictatorship in Nigeria, people like Wike couldn’t have been Local Government chairman, governor or minister today. He is a beneficiary of our struggles and sweats and all that we have invested in it.
“There was a certain time, when I was in Port Harcourt Prison, serving a prison term as a political prisoner, where was he at that time?
“Next time when we go for an event since I know his formula, speaking last, closing the chapter and everybody should go home. It will never happen again. He will certainly get a reply”
Sani added that he won’t take Wike’s comment personally, seeing it as a remark about the Senate’s role in democracy.