In the wake of the political crisis in Rivers State, Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike on Tuesday night asked Governor Siminalayi Fubara to “obey the rule of law”.
This, Wike said, is the only thing that can bring peace to Rivers State.
Wike stated this while speaking in an interview on Channels Television’s ‘Politics Today’.
He insisted neither he nor the Federal Government led by President Bola Tinubu is fighting Governor Fubara.
He said: “The moment you (Fubara) don’t obey a court judgement, you are inviting anarchy, you are inviting violence. Allow the rule of law to prevail. It is the only thing that can bring peace. It is up to Fubara. Fubara accused the Judiciary of a fraudulent judgment. Fubara did not follow due process by law. When you do not have good lawyers doing your work you blame the judges.
“No person who believes in the peace and stability of any nation would say that you want to support violence or destruction. What is important is that when there is violence and instability, it is for you to ask questions about what led to the violence and instability and destruction. The only thing that can bring peace in Rivers State is for the Governor to obey the Rule of law.
“I was a Governor and I have always obeyed the rule of law. You had the Governor say our state is turning to a state of anarchy where people do not obey the rule of law. What is obeying the rule of law? You must respect and obey court judgments. You must not take the law into your hands. It does matter how you take the judgment. The moment you do not obey court judgments you are inviting anarchy; you are inviting violence. A governor came out on national television to tell the world that he will not obey court judgment, what does that mean?”.
On July 19, a Federal High Court in Abuja issued a restraining order preventing the Nigeria Police Force (NPF) and other security agencies from providing security during the Rivers State local government elections.
On September 30, the Federal High Court, Abuja, delivered a judgment that again prohibited the police and other security agencies from participating in the Local Government Election.
Despite the rulings, Governor Fubara insisted that the election will be held though police authorities in the State did not participate in the exercise.
Wike also accused his Fubara of sponsoring the Action Peoples Party (APP) in the just-concluded local government election in the oil-rich state.
The APP won 22 of the 23 chairmanship positions in the election. The chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Governors’ Forum Bala Mohammed of Bauchi State also attended swearing in of the elected chairmen..
In the lead-up to the poll, Fubara who is a member of the PDP, said he is the “greatest loser” since his party was not on the ballot.
But Wike claimed Fubara sponsored the APP for the election.
“Today, people say ‘Discipline Wike, he did anti-party’. I did not do anti-party; I said we must stand for equity, fairness, and justice’,” he said.
He also stood his ground over his support for President Bola Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the 2023 election.
Wike said: “Today, what happened? The Governor (Fubara) is the one who sponsored the APP. The chairman of the (PDP) governors’ forum was the one who attended the swearing-in”.
Wike was Rivers Governor under the PDP from 2015 to 2023.
He contested the party’s presidential primary but lost to former Vice President Atiku Abubakar.
He accused the party of injustice, insisting that the PDP should zone its presidential ticket to the south and not leave it open for people like Atiku to contest.
Efforts to reconcile Atiku and Wike failed.
That led him to work for Tinubu of the APC, resulting in the PDP’s loss in the presidential election in Rivers State. The president thereafter appointed him as a Minister.
Although they have been clamouring for Wike’s suspension from the PDP, the Minister insisted that he did not violate the party’s laws and does not regret backing the APC.
“I have no regret at all,” Wike said when asked about his support for Tinubu in the 2023 presidential election.
