Lere Olayinka, the Senior Special Assistant on Public Communications and Social Media to the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, has launched a scathing attack on media mogul Dele Momodu, accusing him of backing former Vice President Atiku Abubakar purely for financial reasons.
In a statement issued on Wednesday, Olayinka described the Ovation Magazine publisher as a “fairweather friend” whose loyalty to Atiku is driven by monetary benefit. According to him, Momodu would quickly abandon the former vice president if the money stopped flowing.
“We are hearing all this noise from him because Atiku is paying his bills. Let Atiku stop paying, Oga Dele Momodu will move to the next victim,” Olayinka said.
He was reacting to Momodu’s recent allegation that Wike was responsible for Peter Obi’s exit from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) before the 2023 elections. Olayinka dismissed the claim as baseless, saying only someone motivated by self-interest could make such an assertion.
“Only someone like Dele Momodu, who does not have knowledge of anything apart from his stomach, would claim that it was Wike that drove Peter Obi out of the PDP,” he stated.
Olayinka also took aim at Atiku himself, accusing the former vice president of being a long-standing source of division within the PDP. He alleged that Atiku sabotaged the party’s chances as far back as 2003, when he frustrated efforts to win Lagos State.
“Atiku has been the weapon fashioned against the PDP since he frustrated the party’s efforts to win Lagos State in 2003,” he said.
He further challenged the sincerity of Atiku’s call for a South-East presidential candidate ahead of the 2023 polls, noting that Atiku had already picked up the party’s Expression of Interest form before the PDP’s zoning committee concluded its assignment.
“Dele Momodu claimed Atiku wanted the PDP to field a candidate from the South-East, but conveniently ignored the fact that Atiku had already declared his interest,” he said.
Olayinka pointed to the departure of several key PDP figures, including Atiku’s former campaign director general Senator Gbenga Daniel and his 2023 running mate Dr. Ifeanyi Okowa, as evidence of dissatisfaction with Atiku’s leadership style.
“Was it Wike that made Senator Gbenga Daniel, who was the Director General of Atiku’s 2019 campaign, leave PDP barely two weeks after the election? Was it Wike that made Dr. Ifeanyi Okowa leave the PDP?” he asked.
He added that both former Akwa Ibom Governor Udom Emmanuel—who chaired Atiku’s 2023 campaign—and his successor, Governor Umo Eno, have also distanced themselves from the former vice president.
“The question is, why did everyone who worked closely with Atiku during the 2019 and 2023 elections leave him afterwards? The reason can only be because someone is a selfish person who is only about himself alone,” he said.
Efforts to get comments from Atiku’s spokesperson, Paul Ibe, and Dele Momodu were unsuccessful as of the time of filing this report. While Momodu’s phone was switched off, calls to Ibe rang out unanswered. Messages sent to both men were yet to be returned.