Nigeria, July 9 -- The war of words between the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Minister, Nyesom Wike, and the senator representing the territory, Ireti Kingibe, escalated on Tuesday after a blistering statement from the minister's media aide accused the senator of hypocrisy, financial misconduct, and personal impropriety.

Lere Olayinka, senior special assistant on public communications and social media to Mr Wike, released a statement in which he described Senator Kingibe as "shameless" and alleged that several of her legislative aides had quit due to non-payment of salaries and what he termed "immoral acts."

Mr Olayinka's statement came in response to comments by Senator Kingibe during a television appearance, where she criticised Min...