Senator Adeseye Ogunlewe has come out to assert that the ministerial nomination of the immediate Governor of Rivers State, Nyesom Wike is ‘compensation’ for his role in President Bola Tinubu’s emergence.
Africa Today News, New York reports that Wike, who did the unthinkable by leading Rivers State under the main opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), worked for Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the presidential poll following a fallout with the leadership of his party.
Two months after Tinubu was sworn in, the Nigerian leader sent a list of ministerial nominees to the Senate with Wike, who has not officially left the PDP, headlining it.
Although the decision has sparked some debate and the PDP has yet to make a determination regarding Wike’s future, Senator Ogunlewe believes that the former governor is deserving of the nomination.
“It is so easy to decipher. If you are following the development that cumulated in the last election, you would know the role Wike played and you must give him compensation for that role,” he said on Channels Television’s Sunday Politics.
According to him, Wike was not the only one that worked for the success of the APC in the presidential election.
He says people like ex-governor Dave Umahi and Nasir El-Rufai merit nominations based on their antecedents.
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Senator Ogunlewe believes someone such as Umahi needs to “replicate” his infrastructural drive in Ebonyi State at the national level.
‘Everybody participated actively in the success of the APC, whether you are in opposition or not,’ he added.
But Ogunlewe has warned the nominees to not work against the party’s manifesto.
He believes Tinubu ‘will not allow you [cabinet members] to mess him up’ and as such the nominees should gear up for work.
The former minister of works is also optimistic about a smooth screening process on Monday.
Nigerians are eager to see the country fix its issues and such, there’s no time for further delay, he argued.