November 1 (THEWILL) – The Minister of Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, on Tuesday, disclosed that the political crisis in Rivers State is about control of his political base to ensure his political relevance in the country.
THEWILL had earlier reported that the political crisis in Rivers State degenerated on Monday, after 24 members of the State House of Assembly, allegedly acting on the order of the FCT Minister, signed an impeachment notice on Governor Siminalaye Fubara.
While the crisis degenerated, Governor Fubara had said any unjustified action against him would be resisted. He insisted that he had done nothing wrong to warrant plots of impeachment by the State lawmakers.
However, while practically owning up to being the brains behind the crises, Wike told a group of South-South leaders at his office in Abuja on Tuesday, that he must secure his base to maintain his political relevance.
The former Governor, who dismissed the claim that the move against Fubara was motivated by ethnic considerations, insisted he would not allow his political base to be taken away from him as a politician.
He added that he is not losing sleep over what he described as a campaign of calumny against him over the matter.
“All of us want to be politically relevant; all of us want to maintain our political structure. Is it not your political structure? Will you allow anybody to just cut you out immediately? Everybody has a base. If you take my base, am I not politically irrelevant?
“In politics, there are a lot of internal wranglings. But to come out and say ‘Oh they want to do this against me, it will not work.’
“I had every power then to say where this thing is going. So, when things are wrong, you ask questions,” the Minister was quoted as saying during the meeting by Channels Television.
Fubara and Wike are both members of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). Although the Minister, an estranged member of the PDP, insisted on Tuesday, that the crisis in Rivers is a party affair and would be resolved using the party’s mechanism.
“The party knows how they resolve their problems, it is not an ethnic affair. Our party is coming to it, that is what I will say. Every politician has his own interest,” Wike added.
The PDP had in a statement on Monday, urged all actors in the disagreement to sheathe their swords and allow for a peaceful and amicable resolution of all the issues.
“The National Working Committee (NWC) of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) calls on all actors in the disagreement in Rivers State to sheathe their swords and allow for a peaceful and amicable resolution of all the issues,” it said.
