Rivers Elders Supporting Fubara Attacked

Rivers Elders Supporting Fubara Attacked

On Sunday, the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, criticized Rivers elders for taking the side of Governor Siminalayi Fubara in the ongoing political crisis in the state.

Accusing the elders of pursuing selfish interests, Wike cautioned the people of the state against becoming embroiled in political conflicts without understanding their underlying causes.

Speaking at a thanksgiving ceremony and marriage anniversary for Dr. Des George-Kelly, the immediate past Rivers State Commissioner for Works, held at the Kings’ Assembly in Port Harcourt, Wike addressed the audience. Among those present were some of the 27 lawmakers believed to be loyal to Wike, as well as some commissioners who recently resigned from Fubara’s cabinet.

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This marked the first occasion for Wike to comment on the dispute between him and his successor and estranged political godson, Fubara, following the intervention of President Bola Tinubu in Abuja.

Wike criticized the elders of the state who had recently criticized the President for intervening in the political crisis in Rivers.

He said, “Let me tell the church, you know blackmail is the easiest thing. So many of you may believe what is going on; so many of you may also follow on the road without knowing where you are heading. If I were you, (I would) sit down and ask myself: can this be true? But just because we are no longer in power you may want to believe everything they have said. Power and money, if you are not careful, can destroy you. It can also make (you), depending on how you handle it.”

Wike said he would never do anything to drag Rivers State backward, saying, “In fact, it was during my time I fought so many states to bring back our oil wells. The money accruing from those oil wells today is not in my pocket but in the interest of the state.

“To show character, when I was here I never went to see the Federal Government, I never. I was the only opposition to the Federal Government. I challenged them. That is how you know people when they say they want to do something and they do it. I’m not a man that you can convince just because of a porridge of yam, no, it is not possible.”

Continuing, Wike said, “Don’t get involved in any fight between two politicians without knowing the root cause.

“In any facet of life, there are rules and they must be obeyed. As a pastor, there are rules you must follow. So also, as politicians, we must follow rules.

“While I was governor I followed those rules, and that’s why I was able to succeed.

“When I was running for governor, I was invited (and told) that some elders wanted to see me. When I got there, I saw only two people; just two of them constituted themselves as elders over the whole state.

“They said the elders of the state had decided that I should not contest the election. I said it must be a joke. Now they’ve come back again as elders.

“Check everyone there, some of them their sons lost the election. Everybody wants to take their pound of flesh. ‘Wike prevented me from this’; ‘Wike made me not to be that’. ‘Wike made me not to be that’. Even those that Wike made have joined them.”

The FCT Minister also warned against propaganda, even as he expressed dismay that some of the elders he made have joined in criticising him.

He said, “You are the ones who said the President should intervene. Now the President has come to bring peace, you said no, you don’t have the constitutional powers.

“All of us must love this state but don’t listen to propaganda. There is nothing I’m looking for in this state now. I have my own budget as FCT Minister. I have my own commissioners. All I’m saying is if you are a politician play according to the rules.”

He said those bringing in ethnic sentiments were ill-informed, saying, “All of us in this state, irrespective of where you come from, know this state belongs to all of us. There is nothing like Ijaw, there is nothing like Ikwerre.  All I know is Rivers State.

“If you want to settle us, set out the facts. Don’t just be shouting asawana (a popular solidarity mantra). No, because when we were choosing who would rule, you never shouted ‘asawana’.

“Now they’re carrying flags and shouting asawana up and down. Are you people aware that Mr President actually called us privately and told us what to do? He didn’t do it and now Mr President then said okay, the larger house should come and they’re saying he does not have the constitutional right to do that. I have subjected myself to the peace process.”

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