The FCT minister accuses the ADC vice-presidential candidate of using his late mother to seek political sympathy after he blamed Tinubu’s policies for her death.

Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, has criticised Rotimi Amaechi for linking his mother’s death to President Bola Tinubu’s economic policies.

Wike spoke on Saturday at Ekpeye House in Ahoada, Rivers State, while addressing members of the Uzugbani Ekpeye National Executive Council. He accused Amaechi, the vice-presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), of bringing his late mother into politics to win sympathy.

Amaechi made the claim on Channels Television’s Politics Today on Friday. He said his mother was healthy before Tinubu came to power, and that after 2023 the cost of medicines made it hard for him to buy her drugs.

Wike questioned how that could be true. He pointed out that Amaechi was Speaker of the Rivers State House of Assembly from 1999 to 2007, governor from 2007 to 2015 and Minister of Transportation from 2015 to 2023. That is eight years in each office.

According to Wike, a man who held those positions cannot tell the world he was unable to afford his mother’s medicine. He also referred to Amaechi’s wife as an industrialist, and asked why she could not have given him the money.

Wike went further. He claimed that Amaechi’s associates, some of whom own private jets, attended his mother’s burial. In his view, they could have helped with her medical bills while she was alive. He alleged that they gave Amaechi money, which he accepted.

The minister also took issue with a video in which, he said, Amaechi stated that his mother would be happy if the ADC won the 2027 election. Wike argued that this meant she would be unhappy if the party lost. He said it was wrong to bring a late loved one into politics.

Even so, he urged everyone to pray that the old woman would rest in peace with her Creator.

Amaechi’s mother, Mary Amaechi, died in July 2026 and was buried in September in Ubima, Rivers State. Several prominent political figures attended the burial.

The exchange is the latest in the long-running rivalry between Wike and Amaechi, who once worked together before becoming political opponents. Earlier in the week, Wike also challenged Amaechi to account for his achievements in Rivers State after 24 years in senior political roles.