By Abiola Olawale
Prominent human rights activist and former Chairman of the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), Prof. Chidi Odinkalu, has escalated his campaign for President Bola Tinubu to immediately sack the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike.
This is as Odinkalu pointed to alleged breaches of ethical standards and a pattern of influence over the judiciary.
Odinkalu also claimed that Wike’s alleged alcohol consumption is affecting his duties under the administration of Tinubu.
In a statement posted on his social media account, Odinkalu articulated that Wike’s continuation in office is detrimental to the administration of Tinubu and the integrity of Nigeria’s legal system.
He said: “As Minister for the FCT, Mr. Wike currently presides over a 21st-century city overwhelmed by the stench of human faeces occasioned by the collapse of the sewage system.
“Yet, I distract him. I’m a private citizen. I teach; I write; and I also engage in advocacy on matters of legal and public significance affecting Africa’s governance and institutions, including Nigeria’s. When I do, my positions and asks are public.
“As part of my public advocacy, I have called attention to a pattern of avoidance by Mr. Wike concerning serious and well-founded accusations of habitual use of criminal violence to pervert the outcome of elections in Nigeria; Looting of public assets in his various political roles at the State and federal levels, including as Governor and as Minister; Laundering assets from Nigeria for the acquisition of luxury real estate in Florida in the USA; Non-compliance with the asset declaration laws in Nigeria in relation to his unlawfully acquired and looted assets; and Chronic and criminal corruption of every level of the judicial system from the lowest to the highest courts in Nigeria.
Each of these should ordinarily be enough to preclude Mr. Wike from public office.
“Together, they should ensure that no serious government could have anything to do with him besides asking him to clear his name (if he has any).
“Mr. Wike has parlayed that corrupt record into purchasing a seat for life on the Body of Benchers (BoB). His membership of the BoB remains an indelible blot on what is supposed to be a body of legal practitioners of the highest distinction in the country.
“Instead, Mr. Wike struts Nigeria’s public space with both impunity and arrogance, peddling influence and abusing public office and assets habitually for his private gain.
“In the past year, Mr. Wike has sought to bully or use the BoB to persecute me or squelch my work on his undisguised role in judicial corruption. He failed. That is now under examination by the UN Special Rapporteur on Independence of Judges and Lawyers, Margaret Satterthwaite.
“This week-end emission is his latest gambit. He will fail too.
“Mr. Wike has also used public assets to sustain a habit of dependence on expensive alcoholic beverages, which have manifestly become a danger both to his well-being and to the public good.
“Even now, it is not too late for Mr. Wike to seek and receive the attention he desperately needs for his unhealthy addiction to alcoholic beverages.
“For that to happen, however, Mr. Wike must quit and vacate the high office he currently holds. And if he chooses not to, the President should, as an act of compassion, take immediate steps to put him out of his misery.”
