According to Vanguard, Women from Rivers State, under the banner of the Rivers Professional Women League (RPWL), have responded strongly to comments made by the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike.
The women rejected Wike’s claim that their decision to walk out of an event hosted by the First Lady, Senator Oluremi Tinubu, was “very disturbing and embarrassing.”
The incident occurred on Friday during the Women’s Initiative Empowerment Programme, held in Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital.
The event was organized by the First Lady, but she was represented by Dr. Theresa Ibas, the wife of the sole administrator of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC).
The RPWL members said they were not properly informed about who would be addressing them and were under the impression that Fatima Abass, wife of the Speaker of the House of Representatives, would be present to speak. Upon realizing otherwise, they chose to walk out in protest.
Wike, in a response issued through his media aide, Lere Olayinka, criticized the women’s action.
He stated, “It is not enough to be visiting people to plead for peace, those who genuinely want peace work and act for it. These are the same people pleading for peace, but at the same time doing things that are contrary to what they are pleading for.”
In a joint statement signed by RPWL President Nimi Fiberisima, Secretary Jennifer Boms Wolugbom, and Director of Publicity Tambari Menete, the women firmly rejected Wike’s interpretation of the event.
They accused the minister of manipulating the story to suit his political goals.
“It is apparent that Rivers women did not and cannot walk out on the First Lady of Nigeria, Senator Oluremi Tinubu or disrespect her husband, President Bola Tinubu,” the statement read.
They insisted that Wike’s version of the event was an “imaginative spinning” of the facts, designed to “blackmail Rivers people, as always.”
The RPWL leaders emphasized that their actions were not targeted at the President or the First Lady, but stemmed from their disappointment at being misled about who would address them at such a significant event.
They expressed concern that their motives were being misrepresented and politicized.
Highlighting the transient nature of political power, the group added, “What people failed to understand is that political position is transient and in no time this phase of history will pass and all the actors will also fizzle out, some on the good side and some others on the bad side.”
The RPWL sought to clear the air by emphasizing that their walkout was not an insult to the presidency but a reaction to what they viewed as a breach of protocol and miscommunication.
They accused Minister Wike of using the incident to further his political agenda, misrepresenting the actions of women who were simply exercising their right to protest respectfully.
