- •Says I’ll never support Fubara again
- •Anger in gov’s camp as PDP grants FCT minister control of Rivers
Federal Capital Territory Minister Nyesom Wike declared last night that he had no apologies to offer any one for threatening to put fire in any Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) controlled state undermining his position in the party.
Wike, speaking on Channels Television, also vowed that nothing would ever make him support his estranged political godson and successor as Rivers State governor, Siminalayi Fubara,again.
Anger swept through the governor’s political camp in Rivers State yesterday following the decision of the National Working Committee (NWC) of the PDP to hand over the state party’s structures to Wike.
The party’s governors were no less devastated by the NWC’s decision,PDP sources said.
Wike in the television interview said the communiqué issued by the PDP Governors Forum and read by Bauchi Governor Bala Mohammed in which they pledged their support for Fubara to assume the party’s structure in Rivers State undermined him (Wike), and he only responded accordingly.
He said it did not even matter to the governors whether their position on the Rivers PDP was legal or not.
“I said to the Governors Forum, and I repeat without any apology to anybody anywhere, heaven will never fall,” he said.
“In fact, when heaven falls, everybody will be at peace. As I sit as Minister of the FCT from Rivers State, I was a governor.
“Yes, the only person I can say I have no relationship with is the governor of Zamfara. I don’t know him, all other governors I know them, they know me, we have a relationship; and you mean that you want to violate the processes, the constitution of our party; you came out on national television after your meeting where the governor of Bauchi State, the chairman of PDP Governors Forum, who came out to read a communiqué with his colleagues that they were going to make sure their brother, their friend in River State take over the structure, and it doesn’t matter whether it is illegal or legal.
“And I’m sitting as the Minister of the FCT from that state? You look at it that I am nobody in that state and you make that statement? And you think I should fold my hands because you say you’re a governor, which I was never before? You look at me and tell me that and expect me to fold my hands? And you think everything is well?”
Asked if he regretted his reaction especially because it connoted violence, Wike shot back: “How can I regret it? I did not make any bad statement…. What is fire, it is figurative…. I said you want to cause crisis in my state, you too, you’ll have crisis in your state.
“I never said that Bauchi State would be on fire, or that Oyo State will be on fire. What’s my business? All I’m saying is if you don’t want my state to be politically stable, if you want to illegally, unconstitutionally interfere in a legitimate process, in a legal process that is going on, and you want me to fold my hands and say because you are a governor, because you are chairman of the governors’ forum, you will use your position to say people who have been elected and sworn in, NWC, NEC cancel it. Who told you that I don’t have the capacity to say you too in your state, that crisis will be there?”
On Ijaw leader, Chief Edwin Clark who had asked for Wike’s arrest in response to the threat to put fire in PDP states undermining his position,the minister wondered whether Clark is a member of the party and whether he pays his dues accordingly.
Responding to a question on how some power brokers in the PDP now see him as a mole in the party,the minister said: “Nobody, no governor today in the PDP, nobody born of a woman can say I’m an outsider. Seun (the interviewer) before I took this appointment, I wrote to PDP, I wrote to PDP national, I wrote to PDP zonal and I wrote to PDP in my state. My governor also signed a letter that I should take the appointment, yes, it’s true.
“The zonal wrote that I should accept. Who in PDP did not write or nominate names to President Tinubu for appointment? They did, yes. Let them come to say they did not do it. You see, the problem we are having in this country is that some people think they’re too smart. They want to use people and I’m not that kind of person. I dare anybody to come out and say I’m a mole.
“In 2023, did I not say I would not support PDP for president? Did I not say I won’t support them because it was not fair, that it’s against equity, that it’s against justice. Did PDP not win governorship, did PDP not win national assembly and state assembly elections?”
Asked if he was not worried that supporting an Oyigbo or Ogoni candidate as governor for 2007, could cause crisis in Rivers , Wike replied: “I have not told you I am supporting (anyone). I’ve not said so; what I am saying is that because of what they’re doing, it’s like we made a mistake. Ogoni have a right and the Oyigbo have a right to make the statement they have made – whether it will materialise or not is a totally different thing. The question should be, is it workable?”
Will he support Governor Fubara if push comes to shove? He said: “I will never support Fubara in my political life again.”
Asked exactly what the governor’s offence was, Wike said, “No, it’s not about me. People laboured to put up structures, people laboured to put you where you wouldn’t even have taken the 50th position.
“I sacrificed to talk to the Ogoni, I sacrificed to talk to so many people, let us go this way. You turned it that I am asking for 20billion, hundred billion… you turned it to lies against me. I brought you up, put you there, push you here, today, I turned a villain, Wike is demanding. What’s Wike demanding? In politics, you benefit from other people and people benefit from you. You rose through somewhere…”
NWC’s decision sparks anger in Fubara’s camp
Fubara’s supporters were yesterday burning with anger in reaction to the decision of the National Working Committee (NWC) of the PDP to recognize the recent congresses held by the Wike faction of the party and which in effect leaves the party’s structure in the minister’s hands.
Sources close to the governor’s camp told The Nation in Port Harcourt that the NWC’s action was against PDP’s constitution.
It was understood that some of the supporters were putting pressure on him to decide his next political move.
The immediate past state Publicity Secretary of the PDP, Sydney Tambara Gbara, said the NWC’s decision was against the norm in the party which he said recognizes incumbent governors as party leaders in their states.
Sydney said: “It is unimaginable that any person or group of persons in their right senses will sit down and even want to imagine that. The tradition has always been that the governor of a state inherits the party’s assets and liabilities.
“The governor assumes the head and the leadership of the party. It has been the tradition in Rivers State. This time around can’t be an exemption unless the National Working Committee of the PDP is clearly making it clear to Rivers people that they don’t want us to continue being members of the PDP.
“If that is the case we will also accept that and chart a new course on how to promote our political aspirations in any other platform”.
Sydney, who is also the Commissioner for Environment in Rivers, said the people of Rivers had chosen to pitch their tent with Fubara and to defend his mandate.
“As a people, we have resolved to support Governor Siminialayi Fubara and we have moved on with him. Wherever he is, that is where we are. If he stays in PDP we will stay with him. If he leaves we leave with him”, he said.
Sydney insisted that the decision would have adverse consequences for PDP and would make the party lose the state unless the NWC reversed its stance.
He said: “You are talking about the people and not a nomenclature. The national working committee should have a proper assessment of their decisions.
“It is definitely not going to go down well with the PDP to lose Rivers. I know what is going on up there. It is like a shopping ground for those who feel they can buy their way through.
“But the reality on ground is that Rivers has pitched their tent with Governor Fubara and have moved on with him whether in PDP or not. Our own party right now is Fubara. Wherever he is is where we will be.
“If the NWC has decided to hand over the structure to whoever they like, there is no problem, 2027 will decide the party that will rule Rivers”.
Sydney said the body language of the NWC justified the governor’s initial statement that the PDP had disappointed Rivers.
He said: “The governor had said it a long time ago that PDP had disappointed Rivers. He said the NWC has disappointed every one of us. We saw the drama that came up when the same NWC said all the party executives should become caretaker committees for the party for three months and that nobody should be removed.
“But every one of us that supported the governor was conspicuously removed from the state exco. We saw the drama and nobody said anything. The governor started seeing the sabotage and compromise since that time.
“But we are talking about the voice of the people and not the interest of one individual, who is playing God. We are resolute, we are ready for the showdown in Rivers comes 2027”.
Sydney noted that Fubara’s support in Rivers was massive and that nobody could wrestle power from him in 2027.
He said: “I can tell you, nobody can wrestle power from the people. We will defend the mandate of Governor Fubara with every strength and every strand of blood in our system. We are Rivers people.
“We are not afraid of anybody. If they like they should go and bring the US Marine. In 2027 the people will come out and we will speak. It is important that the NWC take note of this and use their tongues to count their teeth and ask themselves whether they still need PDP in Rivers. For us, we have taken our position and our position is Governor Fubara or nothing”.
Also, a former member of the House of Representatives, Bernard Mikko, expressed his disappointment over the NWC’s decision and appealed to Governor Fubara to avoid distraction.
Mikko told the governor to continue with governance and wait for the time of politics, adding that the people were with him and would continue to support him.
He said: “The PDP constitution is clear that the governor is the leader of the party in the state. If the NWC can act in lawlessness, it shows that they have no future for the country they intend to lead.
“Let me remind you that the emergence of a leader will determine how he will lead. You come in through corrupt practices and you will be bound by it because you are a product of corruption.
“So, for the governor, the political party is just a platform to lead. He is now elected governor of Rivers and he has been affirmed by the Supreme Court. Politics should be out of his way for now.
“He should continue to lead Rivers people according to the budget and the constitution. Parties come and go but Rivers will remain. We have seen NRC, SDP and many others.
“He is our governor and we will support him. When the time of politics comes, we will see how one person who is playing God whether he has all the political parties, God and Rivers people will determine the future of Rivers.”
