The Senior Special Assistant on Public Communications and Social Media to the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, Mr. Lere Olayinka, has pushed back strongly against accusations made by Malam Bolaji Abdullahi, the Interim Spokesperson of the African Democratic Congress (ADC). Olayinka dismissed Abdullahi’s claims and instead held him accountable for his own political setbacks and multiple defections across party lines.
Abdullahi had on Thursday criticized Wike, accusing him of playing a role in the downfall of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), once regarded as one of Africa’s strongest political parties. He suggested that Wike allowed himself to be used to damage the party’s structure and influence.
In a swift and pointed response on Friday, Olayinka argued that it was actually the ambition and self-centeredness of politicians like Abdullahi that led to the PDP’s decline. He accused Abdullahi and others within what he called a “coalition of confusion” of being more interested in grabbing power for personal gain than genuinely working for the wellbeing of Nigerians.
Olayinka posed a series of rhetorical questions aimed at exposing what he described as Abdullahi’s history of political inconsistency. He asked whether it was Wike that caused Abdullahi to leave the PDP in 2014, or if it had more to do with his fallout with Senator Bukola Saraki—his political benefactor who had helped him rise from Special Assistant to a Minister.
He also referenced Abdullahi’s time as Minister under President Goodluck Jonathan’s administration, questioning why he left the PDP for the All Progressives Congress (APC) if not for opportunistic reasons. Olayinka further cited Abdullahi’s role as the APC’s National Publicity Secretary, and his later departure from the party in 2018, suggesting it was because his political ambitions could no longer be fulfilled there.
The FCT Minister’s aide recalled that Abdullahi had unsuccessfully contested for the PDP governorship ticket in Kwara State in 2019 and even lost a senatorial election in 2023 despite securing the PDP’s nomination. Olayinka interpreted these repeated failures as evidence that Abdullahi is a “political liability” whose influence has waned, especially in his home state.
Olayinka accused Abdullahi of dishonesty in his public statements and urged him to be truthful about his own role in the PDP’s crisis. He said the coalition Abdullahi represents is merely a collection of frustrated politicians hungry for power, and far from being a movement to rescue Nigeria or preserve democracy.
Mocking the coalition’s stated anti-Tinubu stance, Olayinka questioned its credibility, describing it as a group filled with politicians of questionable character. He mentioned figures like Atiku Abubakar, whom he referred to as a serial defector and alleged by former President Olusegun Obasanjo to be “patently corrupt”; Nasir El-Rufai, whom he accused of negotiating with terrorists while serving as Kaduna State Governor; and Rotimi Amaechi, under whose watch the judiciary in Rivers State was allegedly shut down for over a year. He also referenced Dino Melaye, whom he mocked for allegedly failing to vote for himself.
Olayinka concluded by urging Abdullahi and his allies to stop misleading Nigerians with false narratives and face the reality that their quest for power is driven by selfish motives and is unlikely to succeed.
