The Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, a former governor of Rivers State, lawyer and member, Body of Benchers to boot, has shown himself a man beloved by the god of politics. That may explain his triumphs in many fronts. But while appreciating his bright stars, perhaps the Wike personality may be a very vital factor in his successes. The man chooses his fights, and when he takes a position, he sticks with it, through thick and thin.
From available records, he supported the emergence of Rotimi Chibuike Amaechi, as the gubernatorial candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party in 2007, in Rivers State, against the wishes of federal forces and stood by his conviction, even when Amaechi allegedly ran away to Ghana, for safety. The legend had it that Wike sold his father’s property to fight the legal battle for Amaechi. From the recent interview Amaechi granted a national television, it can be deduced that Amaechi did not fully appreciate the sacrifices Wike made.
When Amaechi fell out with President Goodluck Jonathan, Wike choose to be on the side of Jonathan, and with the bravura of Mama Peace, Dame Patience Jonathan, the first lady, Wike became the governorship candidate of the PDP, when his former principal, Amaechi, moved over to the All Progressive Congress (APC), to help President Muhammadu Buhari get elected in 2015. That decision paid off, as Wike got elected as governor, despite the opposition of the departing governor, and since then, he has been on the ascendency.
As governor, Wike endeared himself to Nigerians and even to President Buhari of the opposition party, with his flamboyant celebration of his numerous projects. Again, after completing his tenure and failing at the presidency project, he chose to align with President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, of the APC, while rejecting overtures from Peter Obi of the Labour Party, and former vice president, Atiku Abubakar, the man who defeated him at the primary and refused to pick him as vice presidential candidate.
Wike rallied the governors of Benue, Enugu, Abia and Oyo states, to trenchantly oppose the presidential candidate of his party, and played roulette with the candidate of the LP, while extracting promissory notes from the APC, under the nose of his estranged former boss, Amaechi, an APC stalwart. In a manner akin to eating your cake and still having it, Wike delivered his preferred gubernatorial candidate, Similayi Fubara, and the candidates of the national and house of assembly, to PDP, while handing over the presidential poll to the APC, to the consternation of both his APC and PDP opponents.
In the ensuing fight in the National Working Committee, of the PDP, Wike and his friends aligned with Samuel Anyanwu, the party’s secretary, against the more powerful forces in the party. Anyanwu had gone to contest for the governorship of Imo State, and after losing to Hope Uzodinma, of the APC, returned to the party to reclaim his position as secretary. Despite the misgivings of other party stalwarts who want Anyanwu out, Wike chose to back Anyanwu to retain his seat, on the premise that the PDP constitution and 1999 constitution allows party officials to contest elections without resigning.
The efforts by those opposed to Anyanwu to get the courts to determine his tenure failed at the Supreme Court which held that the courts lack the jurisdiction to interfere in the internal affairs of a party.
Instead of putting their house in order, the PDP crisis is increasingly becoming intractable, with the PDP governors divided as to the way forward. The Board of Trustees, instead of bringing neutrality to the dispute, chose to take a stand that has further polarized the party. The party’s National Working Committee, already divided down the line, seems determined to fight to finish. When some party members insisted that the National Executive meeting must hold, despite the issues raised by INEC, one wonders whether the entire party leadership is under a form of spell.
While everyone in PDP seems to be losing their heads, Wike is insistent that Samuel Anyanwu, remains the party’s secretary, and he appears to be winning over some of his former foes like the governor of Bauchi State, Bala Mohammed. Over the weekend, Wike toasted Anyanwu, at his 60th birthday celebration, at the recently refurbished International Conference Centre, renamed after President Bola Ahmed Tinubu. Wike advised Anyanwu to remain steadfast to his conviction and not be afraid. He told him to remain calm as those he defeated will come to seek his face, and not for him to go in search of them.
That fearless capacity to confront political opponents may be one of the factors that endears Wike to President Tinubu, himself a fearless political warrior. When President Tinubu describes Wike as an asset, he may not just be referring to his stellar performances at the minister for federal Capital Territory, but his inner core, as a person. As Chief Obafemi Awolowo, is reputed to have said, only the deep can connect to the deep. Wike, showed himself an intractable political warrior, in his battle with his now reconciled political godson, the governor of Rivers State.
Wike, who fought many political battles to make Fubara governor, fought even greater battles, to reclaim him, from his opponents, who wanted to reap where they did not sow, as he put it. Instead of running scared or capitulating, Wike stayed his cause with his supporters, until the battle was won. This writer had advised Fubara months before the hammer of emergency rule fell on his executive duties to obey the rules of the game he freely and willingly entered.
Wike’s greatest fan, who has referred to him as an asset, remains President Tinubu, a veteran of political roforofo. Through uncommon capacity to deliver on his mandate as a minister, Wike has gained the confidence of the president and even majority of Nigerians living in Abuja. For more than two weeks, the president has had the honour of commissioning landmark projects that will endear him and his party to the masses, as he celebrates his second year anniversary as president and Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
No person in the shoes of President Tinubu, would not be happy with the achievements of Minister Wike. From roads, to water works, to fly overs, to bus stations, it has been celebration time for the president. The projects are so many that one wonders how Wike, was able to execute such projects in less than two years of his appointment as minister. Such capacity to deliver on an assignment, is truly an asset, as President Tinubu has reiterated many times.
What remains to be seen is whether Tinubu, would be able to lure that asset to his party, as he has wished.
