A pressure group within the Peoples Democratic party (PDP), the PDP Frontliners, has advised Rivers State Governor, Mr Siminalyi Fubara, to fully implement the peace accord brokered by President Bola Tinubu in Abuja last year in a bid to resolve the political differences between him and the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike.
It said implementing the accord would douse the political tension in the state and as well lead to a lasting peace for the sustainable development of the oil-rich state.
The group, in a statement by its Publicity Secretary, Jonah G. Sylbriks, on Monday, noted that Wike remained a key stakeholder in Rivers and Nigeria’s politics at large.
It added that the victory of both Fubara and Tinubu at the 2023 polls in Rivers was a testament to Wike’s influence in the state, a reason the governor and the minister must work with understanding to advance the cause of Rivers.
The group stated, “In Nigeria’s ever-shifting political landscape, the hunt for heroes among politicians has been near-fruitless, leading to a fervent search for villains, especially as economic woes grip the nation; former Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Ezenwo Wike, has become a focal point, blamed for dashing political dreams and disrupting power dynamics, notably within the PDP and accusations abound, linking Wike to shattered aspirations of presidential candidates and gubernatorial hopefuls, while paving the way for Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s victory.
“On Twitter (X), Facebook and other social media platforms, Labour Party supporters and supporters of the PDP presidential candidate who, had in 2011 led the campaign against President Goodluck Jonathan’s Presidential bid on the grounds that ‘it was still the turn of the North to rule Nigeria.’ are struggling to overdo themselves in painting the FCT Minister as a villain because of his backing for Tinubu.
“Also, in Rivers state, former PDP heavyweights who have become expired political paperweights, join others in accusing Wike of insulting the Ijaws by bringing up Fubara instead of allowing them to impose a candidate; they deliberately ignore the fact that Wike made another Ijaw man an Executive Director, Finance and Administration at the Niger Delta Development Commission, and backed yet another Ijaw man to become the Rivers State Representative in the Federal Civil Service Commission.”
The groups also observed the role of a former Rivers State Governor, Peter Odili, in the accord, further urging Fubara not to take after the example of one of his predecessors, who worked against Odili, his benefactor.
It added, “In 1998, Wike, then Local Government Chairman of Obia Akpor Local Government, had Sim Fubara, a twenty-three (23) year old as his accountant/cashier, became a governor and made Fubara the accountant/cashier in Government House before making him a director and later, the state Accountant-General; at 46, Fubara as one of Nigeria’s youngest governors, has spent half of his years on earth working for or under Wike.
“Now that they have signed a peace accord, it behooves on the Governor and not Wike, to ensure a restoration to normalcy because the likely end loser of a prolonged fight is Fubara – who will spend the next few years watching his front and back instead of working to beat the record of his “father” and in any case, turbulence in Rivers State now will, in the long term, be blamed on the Governor, and not Wike, whose tenure turned Rivers into a mini political capital of Nigeria, saw rapid urban renewal and brought an end to the regular bouts of violence in the State.
“Furthermore, a large percentage of his new supporters are people who do not like him – and wish that he is not in power; when the “chips are down” as they say, Fubara may look back and discover, sadly at the time, that he is alone!
“In any case, instigators who are pushing him into the fight in the name of the law, democracy and the constitution are failing to also let him know that, under democracy and proper respect for the rule of law, a State Governor does not have much access to instruments of coercion – except, outside the law; in truth, the law may neither help him or his father and they may both become casualties.
“Besides, dividing the State along ethnic lines now may harm the Governor more than Wike and, the Governor needs to discountenance the voices from Bayelsa and Delta States against Wike; Ijaw’s have been unable to make Governorship in Delta – and, for now it is Wike that made it possible in River State.
“Furthermore, Wike’s traducers need to be told some truth: attacks on Wike will not bring down President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, all those who lost their positions because of Wike cannot reclaim such positions by bringing down Wike; PDP needs to rebuild itself or die and obsession of Atiku and his co-wayfarers with Wike counterproductive to the party and democracy.”
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