…………Confirmed Fubara is now begging to make peace with him.
By Chika Madu
The former governor of Rivers state Barrister Nyesom Wike has confirmed that the suspended governor Sim Fubara actually visited him, and ready to make peace with him.
Addressing a press conference today in Abuja, Wike confirmed that indeed Fubara begged him for reconciliation.
Throwing more light on what happened, the Minister, who is Fubara’s immediate predecessor in office, added that the suspended governor visited him with two governors of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) to try to make peace.
Both political godfather and godson have been butting heads since 2023 shortly after Fubara, Wike’s hand-picked successor, was inaugurated as governor.
The crisis divided the petro-dollar-rich Niger Delta State down the middle as the State House of Assembly as well as prominent persons in the area took equally divergent sides in the conflict.
Protests for and against the hardline positions taken by both protagonists rocked the state, raising greater concerns for peace, security, and overall development of the state.
However, the crisis climaxed on Tuesday, March 18 this year when President Bola Tinubu slammed emergency rule on the state, removed and suspended Fubara for six months, and appointed a former Naval chief, Vice Admiral Ibok-Ete Ibas (rtd), as Sole Administrator. Also suspended were lawmakers in the State House of Assembly.
As calls for peace between Wike and Fubara mounted, Wike listed certain conditions that must be attained by Fubara to fully restore peace.
Speaking to newsmen on Monday, the Minister, now perceived in some circles nationwide as something of a strongman in the Tinubu cabinet, said: “The President had called for peace severally and I can’t sit down and say no when the President has called for peace.
“Yes, he came with two governors, unfortunately they are APC governors – I won’t pursue him. He said he wants peace and I also want peace.
“This means that there are open window for you and take the necessary steps that you want peace. This is a self-inflicted injury; he doesn’t need it.”
Giving his own perspective on efforts personally made, at the beginning of the crisis, to ensure it did not escalate, Wike recounted thus: “When it started, I called him saying ‘this thing is not good for you because God has given it to you, why not humbly handle it and not allow people push you?’ “
Turning to other matters, such as a possible situation where his party, the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), hands its presidential ticket in 2027 to a candidate from the vote-rich North, Wike, a staunch supporter of President Tinubu (of the APC), queried the rationale for any such move, saying it will affect the party in 2031 when it becomes the turn of the North at the nation’s top seat.
His words: “PDP cannot give the presidential ticket to the North (in 2027). Selfishness can kill a system.
“For example, if Mr President runs and wins in 2027, by 2031 APC will send their presidential ticket to the North.
“PDP will do what then? You will come back then and say ‘since APC is sending it to the North, we should follow them and give it to the North?’ “
Dwelling on the party’s current status in his home Rivers State in the face of removal of elected democratic structures by emergency rule, the Minister explained that there is no problem with the party in the area, amid reports of in-fighting, loyalty shifts and divisions.
“We don’t have problem with PDP in my state. Government is not the party but government could work with the party; so there is no problem with PDP in my state.
“Atedo Peterside’s comment is unfortunate; saying appointees are riff-raffs is too extreme. Ph.D holders are riff-raffs because they could not establish a bank? If they had established a bank, they won’t have been riff-raffs?
“These are some of the people who caused problems for the governor. When we were making this young man governor, what was Peterside’s contribution? He’s from Opobo LGA.
“How can a man give a blanket insult that people are riff-raffs? Look, whatever position you occupy, your impact on your people is key.
“When Wigwe (former Access Bank Plc CEO) was alive, I called him – ‘look, you are in Lagos and everyday you fly down here, what have you done for Rivers State? At the level you are, what can you say you have contributed for the development of the state?’
“He looked at me and said he would return in two weeks’ time. He came back, he said that he has thought about it. He told me he was going to setup a world class university.”