Fubara Has Not Shown Capacity for Truce in Rivers State, Declares FCT Minister Wike

•Suspended gov’s supporters insist emergency rule must end for lasting peace

Olawale Ajimotokan in Abuja, Funmi Ogundare in Lagos and Blessing Ibunge in Port Harcourt

Minister of the FCT, Nyesom Wike, has berated suspended Governor of Rivers State, Siminalayi Fubara of not exhibiting the capacity to make peace with estranged stakeholders and resolve the political crises tearing the state to bits.

This was as some of his supporters of the governor have insisted that their agitations were based on democratic principles and interest of the state, adding that emergency rule must end for lasting peace.

However, Wike stated this during at a monthly media chat, confirmed that Fubara paid him a visit in Abuja as part of the move to end their political differences.

He accused Fubara of only making peace while his foot soldiers were habitually heating the polity by attacking his political opponents on television.

Wike also faulted his estranged political associate of being accompanied to his house by APC governors and not any of the PDP governors, who had been backing him while the crisis festered.

He said he bluntly told Fubara at the meeting that he felt he lacked the capacity to make the peace.

He also charged the suspended governor to in addition to seeking peace with him take the drastic steps to meet other stakeholders like the State Assembly, the party and other stakeholders for peace to reign.

“The president had called for peace several times, not peace I am calling. I said the president had called for peace several times. And he (Fubara) said, ‘I don’t want peace’. Yes, he came with two governors.

“Unfortunately, the two governors are APC governors. And he said, he wants peace. And I told him these are not the kind of people I am expecting. What that means is that there is an open door, an open window for you. Take the necessary steps to show relief.

“Indeed, this is a self-inflicted injury. Does he need it? When this thing started, I called him, that this thing is no good for you. God has given you this thing. Why not humble it? And don’t allow people to push you. They are telling you to act like a governor.

“Nobody is thinking the way you are as a governor. But mind you, don’t abandon people who have laboured, who have toiled day and night for you. So, they just wanted to control him and demand for money and this and that. They pushed him. Governors are pushing him.

“And where are they now? I think those governors are enjoying their own. Is it not? You don’t need to enter into that kind of problem. You know, a young man, I say, look, go this way, go this way. You will not have problem.

“But people came to him and say don’t worry, assert yourself as governor. You can see now, trouble has come.  People pushed you. Look. And has the time of emergency gone now?

“Has it ended? No. Why? Assembly will see the same as it has been. So, the country will stay there. They will not pass your budget. You won’t get more federal allocation,” Wike said.

He also warned the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to avoid the impunity, exclusionary politics and internal manipulation that caused it the Presidential election in 2023 in 2027 by not producing the National chairman and presidential candidate from the same region.

He said, “If PDP doesn’t take care, watch out for what will happen because selfish interest can kill an organisation. You haven’t won an election but you are excluding people.

“You want to play the same game you played in 2023, it will backfire. I have told people that this smartness will not help you. Wike is telling you now to stop this smartness.”

But supporters of. Fubara have insisted that their agitations were based on democratic principles and interest of the state.

Fubara had insisted that some of the remarks and actions of his supporters were not necessary, contrary to his personal beliefs and principles of pursuing peace in the midst of the political crisis in the state.

Fubara, in his remarks, confused his supporters further when he stated that his heart was no longer in the Governor House, and would have declined to return if it was a personal decision.

But reactions have trailed his comment made at an event in honour of the Pa Clark on Sunday.

A former Acting Managing Director of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), Mrs Ibim Seminatari, noted that the governor might have made such a comment based on the circumstances at the time of his speech.

Speaking with THISDAY, the former Commissioner for Information and Communication in the state, said, “It is impossible for me to judge the things that may have led to comments of that nature.

“My personal view in whatever I have been involved in, is a matter of justice, democracy and Rivers State. All of my life I have fought for the environment of democracy and democratic principle.”

Also reacting, a statesman and chieftain of the pan Niger Delta Elders Forum (PANDEF), Chief Anabs Sara-Igbe observed that the suspended governor’s comment was personal and not binding on the teeming population of Rivers people.

Sara-Igbe stressed: “Rivers people have taken a stand. They want the governor to be reinstated as governor. We are satisfied with his governance. That is why everybody wants him back on the seat. When he is eventually reinstated, let him come and tell us that he will not return.”

On his part, President of Ijaw Youth Council (IYC), Dr Alaye Theophilus, said, “The fight for peace in Rivers state is not about Fubara as a person. It is a fight against the political oppressors of Rivers state.”