The Minister of Federal Capital Territory, FCT, Nyesom Wike has spoken on the ongoing crisis in Rivers state.
DAILY GIST reports Wike and his successor, Governor Siminalayi Fubara have been at loggerheads over the control of political structure in the state.
The duo are engaging in supremacy battle as the state continues to embroil in crisis
The local government election is now being viewed in both camps as a referendum on who really controls the grassroots.
The Wike camp seemingly opposed to the conduct of the election on Saturday.
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.
Also, 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 court rulings, Governor Fubara insisted that the election will be held.
Meanwhile, the Nigerian police force, NPF did not participate in the exercise, citing the directive from court.
Violence escalated after the poll when 3 Local government Secretatariats were burnt by political thugs allegedly loyal to the immediate former governor.
Wike who spoke on Channels TV about the crisis on Tuesday night said Fubara is the architect of violence in the state.
According to him, peace cannot reign in the state because the governor is defying a court judgment.
The minister said the governor was wrong to go ahead with the local government election despite a court order barring it.
He said: “Who is the perpetrator of the violence, I am not blaming the Governor, but he is the architect of the violence in the state”
“Did you see my supporters causing the mayhem, those shouting No Wike, No Rivers, is not my business. I was in Abuja and not in Rivers on the day of the election”
No person who believes in peace and stability of any nation will say he supports violence, will say he wants to support destruction, will say he doesn’t want people to live in harmony.
“But what’s important is that when there’s violence, when there’s instability, it’s for you to ask questions: what has led to the violence, what has led to the instability, what has led to destruction?
“I was a governor and I have always obeyed the rule of law. You heard the governor say the state is turning into anarchy. You must respect the rule of law, the judgement of the court. It doesn’t matter how you see that judgement. The moment you don’t obey judgement, you’re inviting anarchy and violence.
“A governor came out on national television and said he won’t obey court judgement. He went as far as to say he doesn’t need police and protection of lives and property.
“When someone says he doesn’t need police and protection of lives and property, he’s inviting anarchy. The governor is the architect of the violence.”
The minister accused governor Fubara of ‘playing politics’ following the intervention of President Bola Tinubu on the crisis in 2023.
He said: “Following the intervention of the president, I said, ‘look, Mr President cannot, as a father of the nation, cannot come and call you and say this should be done’.
“And we said ‘okay, Mr President, we are going to comply’. And we complied; we did comply. And then, you (Fubara) started playing politics.
This is not the way things are. And we said ‘if that is the case, okay, we are out of it.”
Wike also accused his successor of sponsoring the Action Peoples Party (APP) in the recent LG elections.
APP won 22 out of 23 chairmanship positions, a surprising outcome given Fubara’s affiliation with the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), which did not participate in the elections.
He stated, “Today, people say ‘Discipline Wike, he did anti-party’. Today, what happened? The governor [Fubara] is the one who sponsored APP.”
The former governor also defended his decision to oppose his PDP presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, during the 2023 general elections.
He explained that his decision to work against Atiku was driven by the principles of justice, equity, and fairness.
Wike maintained that he has no regrets over his actions and owes no one an apology.
He said, “For the presidential election, I said I am going to support equity, fairness and justice. In the other one, I am going to support my party and that is why we won the governor and National Assembly election.
“For the presidency, I have no apologies because I don’t believe in injustice. Today, people say ‘discipline Wike, he did anti-party.’ I did not do anti-party.”
