Nyesom Wike, the Minister for the Federal Capital Territory and former governor of Rivers State, is said to be downing two bottles of whiskey every night to cope with the loss of his close associate Herbert Wigwe, the CEO of Access Bank, who died in a helicopter crash in California in February this year.
The source who revealed details of Wike’s heavy drinking to Naijiant.com said the minister wasn’t mourning the tragic loss of Wigwe, but was desolate because of the “dirty deals”, including money laundering done by the late banker on behalf of the former governor. Wigwe, according to the source, perished with the details of where the laundered funds were, meaning that the riches stashed away could now be beyond the reaches of Wike.
Wigwe University, a private university founded by the late CEO in his hometown Isiokpo, Rivers State, was scheduled to open in September this year. There are claims that Wike provided a significant chunk of the funding. It’s not quite clear at the time of writing whether the university was still on track for the scheduled opening date.
Rotimi Amaechi, Wike’s predecessor as governor of Rivers State, said in March last year that the FCT minister spends 50m naira on alcohol every week. This was when Wike was still governor. It is not clear whether the alcohol expenditure has increased now Wike is in Abuja and following the demise of Wigwe and associated likely loss of laundered money.
