2nd April, 2024
By Paul Dada
Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike has denied influencing the Rivers State House of Assembly in its ongoing political battle against the State Governor, Sim Fubara.
But he also said he and Fubara are now in different political camps even though they both still belong to the Peoples Democratic Party.
Wike who was speaking on Tuesday in a live media chat held in Abuja, said, he was focused on the assignment given to him by President Bola Tinubu and remain unbothered about the conflict between Fubara and the state lawmakers.
He said: “You know I have decided not to bother myself about politics but on the assignment President Bola Tinubu gave to me. I didn’t go home for Easter. Why do you people think I have a hold on the assembly?
But Wike said the reason Fubara’s problem lingered with the State House of Assembly was that he did not keep to the agreements he had with them when Tinubu intervened to resolve their differences.
He said all Fubara had to do was to “comply with the law, comply with the agreement you made with them, with the president.”
He wondered why Fubara refused to re-present the 2024 budget after the court had invalidated an earlier budget he presented.
He asked rhetorically: “What is it in the budget that you don’t want to present?”
Wike also said he would not intervene in the crisis since Fubara did not come to him to request his assistance.
Wike further hinted that some persons within the state who were seen as elder statesmen actually lacked integrity. He said they were the ones now close to the Rivers State Governor.
“Rotimi Amaechi and (Celestine) Omehia are cousins. It was Amaechi who removed his (Omehia’s) picture. When I became a governor, I put his picture there. But all of them teamed up to support Atiku. Of course, what happened? They couldn’t give Atiku 10 percent votes (in Rivers). We flogged them mercilessly.
“They are the same people who said this governor (Fubara) was a neophyte. They wrote a petition when this governor was to collect his certificate. They told Iyorcha Ayu that he was being looked for by the EFCC.”
Wike said those people did not support Fubara initially but started frolicking with him. He said they should also also take up the responsibility to resolve the conflict between Fubara and the House of Assembly.
The FCT minister said he would not abandon his political base in Rivers just because he had a job to do in Abuja. He said: “Am I from where? Am I from Abuja? I should not oil my political machinery?”