A former governor of Rivers State Nyesom Wike has asked his successor Siminalayi Fubara to follow the rule of law for peace to reign in the state.
Wike spoke on Tuesday when he was featured as a guest on Channels Television’s Politics Today.
“There is peace when you obey the rule of law. There is peace when you obey court judgements,” the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) said.
Wike’s comment came in the wake of the crisis in Rivers State.
The state has made headlines in recent months owing to a feud between Wike and Fubara. That dispute escalated some days back in the lead-up and aftermath of the local government elections in the state.
A court verdict had mandated the police and the Department of State Services (DSS) not to provide security for the election. It also asked the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) not to release the voter register to the Rivers State Independent Electoral Commission (RSIEC) for the exercise.
But the Fubara-led government insisted on the local government election and conducted same on Saturday.
The chairpersons and councillors were sworn in on Monday but that triggered another wave of violence in the state. Three local government council secretariats were set ablaze and properties were destroyed.
Fubara has since vowed to fish out the masterminds of the attacks and on Tuesday set up a panel to probe the incidents.
However, Wike insisted that Fubara should follow the court verdict to bring peace to the state.
“Obey court judgement, and allow the rule of law to prevail. If you don’t obey the law, you are bringing anarchy,” he said.
“I was a governor, I have always obeyed the rule of law. You heard the governor say that our state is turning into a state of anarchy where people do not obey the rule of law.
“You must obey the judgement of the court. You must not take the law into your own hands. The moment you don’t obey court judgement, you are inviting anarchy, you are inviting violence,” Wike said.
Wike accuses Fubara of sponsoring APP in Rivers LG polls
Nyesom Wike has accused his successor Siminalayi Fubara of sponsoring the Action Peoples Party (APP) in the just-ended local government election in the oil-rich state.
Governor Fubara had days ago sworn in local government chairpersons in Rivers State. 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 the event.
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 who is now the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) claims 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 on Tuesday’s edition of Channels Television’s Sunday Politics about his support of President Bola Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the 2023 election.
“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 the Rivers State 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 southern part of the country and not leave it open for people like Atiku to contest.
Efforts to reconcile Atiku and Wike failed. That led the FCT minister 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 clamour 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.
