The Apara Committee of Friends, ACF, a political pressure group loyal to Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Chief Nyesom Ezenwo Wike, has fiercely condemned Senator John Azuta Mbata, President-General of Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide, for what it called an “unwarranted, vicious and uncouth verbal assault” on the FCT Minister.
In a press conference held in Port Harcourt the group described Mbata’s reaction to Wike’s brotherly advice as “excessive and totally unjustified.”
The Apara Committee dismissed the outburst noting it was driven by “envy” of Wike’s towering political stature.
The group further launched a scathing character attack on Senator Mbata, accusing him of neglecting his Eneka clan during eight years in the Senate (1999–2007) and alleging that he engaged in land grabbing activities in Obio/Akpor communities, and seizing funds meant for loyalists.
“We condemn in totality this unwarranted attack on a supposed kinsman who only offered sincere advice,” the committee declared, insisting that Wike’s political profile “dwarfs” Mbata’s “by miles.”
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The group issued a five-point advice to Mbata, urging him to reflect on his conduct, purge himself of jealousy, organise his “disintegrated family, seek forgiveness for alleged land grabs, and stop sabotaging Ikwerre interests.”
The controversy erupted after Chief Wike, during his statewide thank-you tour in Tai Local Government Area on December 31, 2025, urged the former Rivers East senator to rise above “community politics” and return to national-level engagement befitting his senatorial pedigree.
Reacting to the utterances, Senator Mbata, in a widely circulated video, allegedly mocked Wike’s pronunciation of the word “integrity” and rained insults on him, calling him “semi-illiterate,” “swashbuckling crisis-loving gentleman.”
