The Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, Nyesom Wike, has stated that he does not owe former Rivers Governor, Peter Odili, an apology.

During a luncheon at his residence in Old GRA, Port Harcourt, on Friday, Wike asserted that his recent comments about Odili were not insults but reminders of statements the former governor had made publicly.

Wike explained that his remarks on Sunday were intended to remind Odili about his previous statements.

The Minister accused Odili of urging Rivers State Governor Siminalayi Fubara to disregard the terms of an eight-point peace accord made in the presence of President Bola Tinubu in December 2023.

Wike said, “They said I should apologize; for what? That there is no law that says their daughter should not, but I said as an elder statesman, should you have given what belongs to your nephew to your daughter?

“Did I say that there is a law that says your daughter should not be something?

“But you said somebody is converting Rivers State to his personal estate. It’s not correct.

“The man who is converting Rivers State to a personal estate is you, and to crown it up, you are now the general overseer.

“I didn’t say anything wrong, so you cannot kill me for what I didn’t say. Tinubu is not like you. If you are a good person, Tinubu called Rivers people.

“As an elder statesman, he wanted you to make peace, but you came home. Ordinarily, what you should have done was to call Mr. President back and tell him how you have tried to implement some of them. Is there any way we can do the rest? Rather, you disobeyed.

“They said elders said I should apologize. Apologize for what?

“I said that I heard and I read that somebody who should be our elder statesman said this thing today and said a different thing tomorrow, and I said no.

“No elder statesman should say that. And the elder statesman didn’t say, ‘I didn’t say so.’ If he had said he didn’t say that, I would have apologized. But he didn’t deny the statement.

“I didn’t abuse anybody. I said our elder statesman was the one telling people the kind of mansion and castle I built for him. I didn’t say I said so.

“It is not me who said it. It is the man who is supposed to be an elder statesman that said so. You are the one going about telling people what I did.”

Wike’s comment comes after Odili said Fubara had prevented one man from turning Rivers into a personal estate.

Displeased by this, Wike responded, stating that Odili was being a “sycophant and a trader”.