Wike’s foray falters

The latest development on the on-going political imbroglio involving Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Minister, Nyesom Ezebunwo Wike, and Rivers State Governor, Siminalayi Fubara, is that the state assembly led by the Speaker, Martins Amaewhule, who are politically allied to the minister, have begun impeachment proceedings against the governor and his deputy, Professor Ngozi Odu, over […]

The latest development on the on-going political imbroglio involving Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Minister, Nyesom Ezebunwo Wike, and Rivers State Governor, Siminalayi Fubara, is that the state assembly led by the Speaker, Martins Amaewhule, who are politically allied to the minister, have begun impeachment proceedings against the governor and his deputy, Professor Ngozi Odu, over what the Speaker termed as “gross misconduct.”

Although it has been pointed out that the impeachment cannot proceed without the presence of the state’s Chief Judge, which is what obtains now, the assembly has vowed to go on.

Meanwhile, as the impeachment proceedings against Governor Fubara were being activated in Port Harcourt, protesters were on the streets of Abuja calling for the sack of Wike as FCT Minister, bringing the issue to a frightening dimension where both parties are digging in for a colossal fight to finish.

During the yuletide, the embattled FCT Minister, Wike, was seen embarking on a televised statewide tour which took him through local governments in Rivers on what was termed a “thank you” visit.

The visits raised not a few eyebrows in Rivers State and across the country, for such activities are normally the preserve of state governors. But, against the background of the current state of sharp disconnect between Wike and Governor Fubara, it was not lost on observers on the developments in Rivers that the FCT Minister was trying to demonstrate his claim to being the supremo of politics in Rivers above the governor. The visit, accompanied by fanfare and symbolism, was intended to show to the world that although Fubara is the chief executive of the state, his political status and influence owed to the FCT Minister on whose back the governor rode to power.

But while the tour around the state by Wike made a lot of spectacle, many people in Rivers were not too impressed. Abiye Wilcox, a Port Harcourt-based political affairs analyst, scoffed at the FCT Minister. “What does he (Wike) want to achieve?” he asked rhetorically. “He is not the governor of the state. Is that what other ministers are doing in their states at this time of yuletide when people are engaged in sober reflection? We have just recently emerged from a state of emergency brought upon us by the antics of Wike. We are slowly recovering and getting back to normal, and all he can think of is to create another problem for us in this state. All this is to provoke Governor Fubara and Rivers people into violence. But it is a futile exercise because we will not allow Wike to cause another state of emergency again,” he said.

Another Rivers indigene, Fidel Eze, said: “I blame all this on President Tinubu for giving him (Wike) too much license to cause confusion in the state. Ever since he was appointed FCT Minister, he has not allowed the governor to concentrate and work for us. Wike wants to control both Abuja and Rivers State, and Tinubu is just there watching and even encouraging him. He has fought virtually everybody in Rivers and many others across the country. What does Tinubu seek to gain by allowing such a man to continue to do as he is doing and not being called to order?”

But ThankGod Onuoha, who spoke from Ahoada, the headquarters of Ahoada Local Government, quipped: “Agreement is agreement. Politics is all about agreement and support. Governor Fubara was an unknown political quantity in Rivers State. It was Wike that used his political influence and structure to bring him (Fubara) to power as governor. And along the line, there were some agreements arranged which the governor turned his back on after he got the seat. If you know how Rivers politics is, there was no way Fubara could have become governor without Wike, who was the immediate past governor of the state. So, Wike is right to feel unhappy about this grand betrayal by Governor Fubara. Let us be realistic.”

But while the arguments rage back and forth and the crisis between Wike and the governor keeps notching up rapidly, on the opinion scale, the odds seem to be growing against the FCT Minister. By last count, Wike has been recorded as being at loggerheads with over 42 prominent Nigerians, not just from his native Rivers State but across the country. Included in this list are the likes of former President Goodluck Jonathan and his wife, Dame Patience Jonathan; former Rivers State governors Chief Rufus Ada George, Peter Odili, Rotimi Amaechi, and Celestine Omehia. Also on the list are Senator John Mbata, former Minister Abiye Sekibo, former Deputy Speaker Austin Opara, etc. Across the country, the list included former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, National Security Adviser Nuhu Ribadu, Senator Aminu Tambuwal, Governors Seyi Makinde of Oyo State and Bala Mohammed of Bauchi State, and numerous others.

Nigerians would not forget that Wike has set store for being brash and intemperate in his public conduct, which does not reflect well on his position as a senior cabinet member of the Tinubu administration. Last year, in a well-publicised incident, he was caught in an altercation with a young naval officer, Lt. Yerima, who denied him access to a disputed landed property belonging to the former Chief of Naval Staff. Although it was within his administrative purview as FCT Minister to handle such issues, many took exception to the way and manner Wike conducted himself on that occasion.

In the run-up to the end of last year, Wike had also been involved in incidents that did not cast a positive light on his position as Minister of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. Having been expelled from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) at the Ibadan convention of the party, which tried to stop, he attempted to force his way into a meeting at the PDP secretariat with his supporters and was promptly ejected in disgraceful scenes.

During his yuletide visits to local government areas around Rivers State, Wike, without decorum and restraint, was heard aiming acidic verbal missiles at the leadership of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), which he serves as minister. The Chairman of the party, Professor Nentawe Yilwatda, as well as the National Secretary, Senator Ajibola Bashiru, and the Head of Information, Bala Ibrahin, have all had cause to respond unequivocally to Wike’s utterances, which they found unpalatable. The responses by these APC leaders basically called on Wike to recognise that having defected to APC, Governor Fubara is now the leader of the party in Rivers, and although he (Wike) may not be prevented from joining the party if he so wished, he will have to stand behind the governor in the political pecking order of the APC in Rivers State. The National Secretary pointedly told him (Wike) to consider resigning from his position as minister in the ruling APC administration if he could not conduct himself in a manner compatible with his status.

As it is now, Wike’s political stock is fast waning to the point where he is becoming a political liability in Abuja, where he is not looked on with favour in the political circles, in the administration of President Tinubu, among the military and security establishment, and in the public space.

Many see his foray back to Rivers State as a move to shore up his political standing and demonstrate that he holds the handle in the political stakes of the oil-rich state. But while this may be so, Wike may have burned his bridges in the process with his unguarded utterances and sponsored moves to truncate the political order in Rivers State.

As for his political standing in the state, while indeed this may be so, he cannot, however, by any stretch of the imagination, be of higher political ranking than the likes of former President Jonathan, former governors Ada George, Odili, and a whole host of political grandees from Rivers State. And if indications are anything to go by, Wike may soon find himself politically homeless if pressures from angles to President Tinubu to sack him from his present position as FCT Minister are heeded by the President. For whichever way we look at it, Wike’s relevance as a political asset to President Tinubu and the APC, with all the toxic developments linked to him both in Abuja and Rivers State, is fast turning to a baggage which the President can ill afford to hold on to in view of the negative effects this may cause to the political and governance fortunes of the administration.