The former Rivers State governor, Ezenwo Wike has had a theatre of misunderstanding with his successor, Gov. Siminalayi Fubara whose emergence as governor, he heavily influenced. This rift has ushered the state into political tension which President Ahmed Tinubu has recently tried to quell.
For over two months since this misunderstanding premiered on the public domain, neither the emeritus nor incumbent governor have spoken publicly the issue, but on Sunday, Mr. Wike broke the ice.
Speaking in Port Harcourt at a thanksgiving service and marriage anniversary celebration of Des George-Kelly, his ally, who recently resigned as works commissioner in Mr Fubara’s cabinet, Mr Wike warned the people not to “get involved in any fight between two politicians without knowing the root cause.”
According to Wike, money or sharing formula of Rivers IGR was not the cause of their problems as many speculated, but that Fubara failed to play to the rules.
“In any facet of life, there are rules and they must be obeyed. As a pastor, there are rules you must follow. So as politicians, we must follow rules.
“While I was governor I followed those rules, and that’s why I was able to succeed,” Wike said.
On why the Rivers State elders dislike him, he said; “When I was running for governor in 2014/2015, I was invited that some elders wanted to see me. When I got there, I saw only two people. Just two of them constituted themselves as elders over the whole state.
“They said elders of the state have decided that I should not contest the election. I said it must be a joke. Now they’ve come back again as elders.
“Check everyone there, some of them their sons lost the election. Everybody wants to take their pound of flesh. ‘Wike prevented me from this. Wike made me not to be that. Wike made me not to be that.’ Even those that Wike made have joined them.”
He criticised the elders for rejecting the outcome of the president’s intervention it solicited.
“You are the ones who said the President should intervene. Now the President has come to bring peace, you said no, you don’t have the constitutional powers.
“All of us must love this state but don’t listen to propaganda. There is nothing I’m looking for in this state now. I have my own budget as FCT Minister. I have my own commissioners.
“All I’m saying is if you are a politician play according to the rules,” Mr Wike said, a statement that suggests his successor must have reneged on an undisclosed agreement entered into before the election.