Amid ongoing political tensions in Rivers State, the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, has reaffirmed his personal and political ties with the suspended Governor Siminalayi Fubara, saying he was only against certain people hedging the embattled governor against him (Wike).
Wike, the immediate-past governor of Rivers State, described Fubara as a political son despite their widely reported fallout.
In an interview with BBC Pidgin Service published on Saturday, Wike dismissed claims that he was in a battle with the suspended governor, stating that his real political feud was with those manipulating Fubara for their personal gains.
“That one is not a battle. He (Fubara) is my boy, he is my son. Why will I fight with him?” Wike said.
“I’m only fighting against people who want to steal what they did not work for. People like Celestine Omehia, Abiye Sekibo, and Austin Okpara, they want to hijack… I have defeated them before, and I will give them the final defeat.”
Wike alleged that the political actors, whom he claimed to have previously defeated, were behind the current unrest in Rivers State, working to influence Governor Fubara against him.
“When you don’t defeat them, defeat them to the final stage,” he added.
“Now, they are ashamed because they are being defeated. They are the ones pushing Fubara.”
The FCT Minister also confirmed a recent meeting between himself, Fubara, and some other governors, brokered by President Bola Tinubu in a bid to resolve the Rivers crisis.
“He (Fubara) came with some governors to meet me. The president called me and asked us to make peace,” Wike said.
“I asked him (President Tinubu), ‘How can you say I should make peace and I won’t make peace?’”
Wike stated that he welcomed Fubara during the visit and reiterated that he remains open to peace.
“If I don’t want peace, I won’t allow him to come to my place. We even spoke on the phone just the other day,” he said.
According to Wike, he told Governor Fubara that the decision to embrace genuine reconciliation lies solely with him.
“I told him that the yam and the knife are in his hands, so he knows where best to cut. If you want genuine peace, you can have it. If you want us to pretend, we can,” Wike stated.