•Tells Rivers governor to avoid destructive anger
•Advises FCT minister to respect his successor
•President proposes to visit ailing Akeredolu
•Wike: I won’t allow anybody hijack my political structure
•Governors: Nigerian leader’s intervention fatherly, laudable
•Dakuku condemns violence in Rivers, says nothing shows governor compromised state’s interest
Deji Elumoye, Chuks Okocha, Emmanuel Addeh, Olawale Ajimotokan, Adedayo Akinwale in Abuja and Wale Igbintade in Lagos
With a posturing depicting the demeanour of a statesman, President Bola Tinubu, yesterday, intervened in the crisis in Rivers State, and adequately apportioned blame to the two feuding leaders – Governor Siminalayi Fubara and Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike.
Tinubu, who spoke at the inaugural Nigeria Police Council (NPC) meeting held at State House, Abuja, was prevailed upon by governors present to intervene before the crisis snowballed into a bigger mess. Governor of Bauchi State, Senator Bala Mohammed, disclosed this while briefing newsmen on the outcome of the meeting presided by the president at the Council Chambers. Mohammed said Tinubu engaged in discussions with both parties with a view to restoring peace in Rivers State.
The president, allegedly, cautioned Fubara to restrain his anger at the unfolding situation in his state, and advised Wike, the immediate past governor of the state, to respect his successor.
At the maiden NPC meeting, Tinubu also proposed to visit Ondo State Governor Rotimi Akeredolu, who had been struggling with ill-health.
But, apparently, hinting at the root cause of the crisis in Rivers State, Wike told visiting leaders of ethnic nationalities from Niger Delta, yesterday in Abuja, that he would not allow anyone hijack a political structure he had spent years, even decades, to build. He also cautioned against reading ethnic meaning into the raging feud between him and Fubara, while hosting the leaders, who paid him a solidarity visit to.
Twenty-four members of the Rivers State House of Assembly had on Monday attempted to impeach Fubara as governor, resulting in turbulence in the state after the governor’s loyalists stormed the Assembly complex in protest against the plot. It came after the bombing of the state House of Assembly located along Moscow Road in Port Harcourt by suspected arsonists on Sunday, damaging a chamber of the House and several structures. The development was seen largely as a supremacy battle between Wike and his former protégé.
Mohammed, who is the chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party Governors Forum (PDP-GF), also disclosed that the opposition governors resolved to work with the president because he had shown good faith by not interfering with gubernatorial cases brought before the courts by PDP members.
The Bauchi State governor told reporters, “We had a closed session, you would recall, members of the press, where a very serious national issue was discussed that has security implication. That is the problem emerging in Rivers. Mr President, in his usual leadership position, intervened and it would appear there will be peace in that respect.
“On that topic, the governors of the PDP, on their behalf, I spoke and extolled the leadership qualities of the president, congratulated him, expressing appreciation that all the PDP governors, who had gone through the tribunals, have emerged victorious. We know that is leadership.
“There was professionalism in the conduct, the way and manner the judiciary is working under his leadership, and he has shown that he’s a president for everybody; a president for PDP, a president for APC.
“By intervening today and bringing succour and solace to the people of Rivers and Nigeria, and by making sure that he did not use his big hammer and biro to extricate and emasculate us as opposition.
“We find this to be very good and going forward, we pledge that we’re going to work with him to bring good governance to the people of Nigeria.”
Mohammed added, “The meeting urged all parties to the Rivers State crisis to sheathe their sword and resort to peaceful means of resolution. The forum further offers its platform for a quick and just containment of the issues involved.”
However, shedding more light on the intervention on the crisis in Rivers State, an aide to the president, who pleaded to remain anonymous, told THISDAY that while the president allegedly advised the governor to stay away from “destructive anger” that could set him against his benefactor, he also told the FCT minister to learn to always respect the governor, because the office commanded respect, no matter his role in the emergence of the occupier.
At the same time, the president, at the meeting, hinted at his intention to visit Akeredolu at his Ibadan home, in the light of the political crisis in Ondo State, especially the feud between the governor and his deputy, Lucky Aiyedatiwa.
According to the presidential aide, Tinubu, who warned the Rivers State governor to be wary of emergency friends in office, likened him to an individual carrying a basket of fresh eggs on his head and standing in the midst of agitated people. He asked Fubara that if he was eventually pushed down by those agitating and all the eggs broke, what could he have lost if he avoided the agitated people or refused to yield to their game of sycophancy.
The president, the source said, recalled that as a former governor, who had also assisted others to become governors, he had a clear idea what could be going on in Rivers and that without a doubt, there was no governor, who would not want to have a successor of his choice for obvious reasons.
On the other hand, Tinubu pointed out that Wike might have assisted Fubara to become the Rivers State governor, but, ultimately, it was God, who made him governor and as such, he must lead the state with the fear of God and be just to all.
Tinubu, who promised to meet with the governor privately for proper briefing on the situation, however, condemned Fubara’s outburst on national television. He said it was too early and not strategic in any way to have put up a combative poise on national television.
Addressing Wike, according to the aide, the president said the former Rivers State governor must come to terms with the fact that Fubara had become governor and respect him as the leader of the state. He said respecting the governor and his office would help to reduce tension and stave off unnecessary ill-feelings between them, even among their supporters.
Tinubu, the source said, added that it was too early to engage in the kind of feud that played out on Monday in the state.
The source, who gave more insight into what happened before the commencement of the meeting and the president’s intervention, said Fubara, who came to the meeting earlier than his estranged benefactor, had left his seat briefly with the National Security Adviser (NSA), Malam Nuhu Ribadu, when Wike sauntered in.
The source said when Wike came in, he sat with Kogi State Governor Yahaya Bello, who, out of curiosity, asked the FCT minister what was going on in his state, and with his godson. It was at this time, according to the source, that Wike gave what could pass as a clue, venting that a few months after assuming office, Fubara had removed all his people from office, despite all that he did for him.
Wike, allegedly, told Bello that he did not enjoy one-tenth of the kind of privileges he extended to Fubara as a candidate of PDP.
The discussion was ongoing, the source said, when Fubara returned to his seat and made to greet Wike, who was said to have responded shabbily. But after some people allegedly told Wike his response was poor, he then stood up and went to properly greet the governor, creating a pseudo atmosphere of peace.
Meanwhile, the president’s decision to visit Akeredolu, the source claimed, also followed pleas by some of the governors at the meeting that he should step into the Ondo situation, which was yet to abate, despite several interventions.
The president, who said he was aware of the intervention by his party, the All Progressives Congress (APC), allegedly, said Akeredolu had requested to meet with him but he stopped him from coming because his state of health.
I won’t allow anybody hijack my political structure, says Wike
Meanwhile, Wike, in an apparent reference to the goings-on in Rivers State, yesterday, said he will not allow anyone hijack the political base he had built over the years.
The FCT minister was responding to comments by a former Special Adviser to President Goodluck Jonathan on Niger Delta Affairs and Chairman of the Presidential Amnesty Programme, Kingsley Kuku.
Kuku, during what he described as a solidarity visit to the former governor in Abuja, in company with other Niger Delta leaders, described Wike as the leader of the state, but also condemned the attempts to impeach Fubara.
However, Wike insisted that any politician whose base was usurped would automatically become irrelevant, explaining that he is not bothered about the allegations against him, especially on social media.
The FCT minister stated, “Everyone wants to be politically relevant. All of us want to maintain our political structures, so before you (Kuku) left this country, you had your political structure. Would you allow anybody to just come and take over?”
He added, “Everybody has a base. If you take my base, am I not politically irrelevant? You can say anything you want to say, at the appropriate time, we will know who is right and who is wrong.”
Wike advised his visitors to disregard allegations against him.
He said, “Don’t listen to social media, because I have seen all kinds of abuses, but I have said I won’t talk. I know it’s politics. They said oh, somebody asked that he should be given N20 billion and that he wants to award the whole contracts to himself. That’s politics.
“But nobody said this when I was fighting. So, if you like accuse me from here till forever. I won’t even have a sleepless night because as far as I am concerned, the right thing must be done.”
The minister, who stated that everything must be settled through negotiation, insisted that Nigeria remained a democracy, wherein people must learn to communicate, rather than resort to military tactics.
He said the country was not running a military government, maintaining that politics should be a “give and take” game, not the kind of politics being currently played.
Wike cautioned against attempts to read ethnic meaning into the disagreement between him and Fubara. He called politicians to always settle disputes amicably as a family matter.
He stated, “So, when things are wrong, you ask questions, that’s what leadership is all about. When you hear something, ask questions to know what’s going on or what happened, so you can also appraise (the situation).
“I don’t feel threatened by anybody, just tell the truth, and nothing but the truth. It is a party affair, and parties know how they resolve their issues using their mechanism.
“It is not an ethnic affair. That’s why we should ask questions, and be in position to now know the simple truth. Our party is looking into it. Every politician has his own interest, that is where I will stop.
“I don’t want to go into details. But, let us know that all of us are one. Nobody can win elections because of ‘I’m from here’, as you need the support of everybody.
“No one ethnic group will claim that they are responsible for some persons to be one thing or the other, it is not correct.
“It is not only when something favours us, then we are right, and when it doesn’t favour us, then we are wrong.”
Wike said he could not be threatened by anyone, but stated that he owed everything to Tinubu, who appointed him.
The Niger Delta delegation, led by Professor AW Obianime, included Managing Director of Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), Dr Sam Ogbuku; Kuku; Chief Ayiri Emami; Chief Tony Okocha; and Elder TK Ogoriba.
The delegation used the occasion to warn controversial cleric, Ahmad Gumi, to desist from attacking the FCT minister, saying the minister has their confidence and is not a political orphan.
They accused Gumi of making satanic utterances that smacked of one fishing in troubled waters.
Obianime said, “Going further, Gumi should know that Barr. Wike is not a political orphan from the Niger Delta; he has a very strong socio-political base. So, we take very serious exceptions to the call for the minister’s sack and to the blackmail on the president with denial of electoral/political support in faraway 2027 should the president fail to do his unholy bidding.
“We wonder where Gumi has got the right and audacity to threaten the president. We also wonder what electoral value Gumi carries in Nigerian politics.”
Dakuku Condemns Violence in Rivers, Says Nothing Shows Governor Compromised State’s Interest
A chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and former APC governorship candidate in Rivers State, Dr. Dakuku Peterside, condemned attempts by some political actors to plunge Rivers State into another round of violence. Dakuku said nothing in the political landscape showed that Governor Siminalayi Fubara compromised the state’s interest or put it in a severe security situation.
Dakuku, a former Director General of Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), in a statement issued yesterday, stated that no pursuit of personal interest or ambition could override the interest of Rivers State and its people.
He urged political leaders to always watch their actions and tame their excesses.
Dakuku appealed to all political actors to allow the governor time and space to do his job.
The statement titled, “Let Reason Prevail,” read, “I have watched with utter disbelief and disgust the most recent developments in Rivers State.
“Our once peaceful Rivers State has been turned into a theatre of the absurd by desperate political actors who do not wish the state well.
“I condemn, in all ramifications, the raw violence that followed what should ordinarily be average political engagements.
“I also completely condemn the unwarranted disruption of normal governmental activities by politically motivated interest. All people of goodwill who love our dear state and democracy must condemn this in no mean measure.
“I appeal to all political actors to allow time and space for the governor to do his job. Only one governor can function at a time. I also appeal to members of RSHA (Rivers State House of Assembly) to focus on the business of law-making and get less distracted by the pursuit of personal ego or narrow pecuniary interest.
“Finally, I appeal to all leaders in Rivers State to intervene in measured terms with the overall interest of our state in mind. Posterity will judge all of us. Let us allow reason to prevail, please.”
