…says those who begged Tinubu to intervene dragged president to court
Nyesom Wike, Minister of FCT, on Sunday defended President Bola Ahmed Tinubu on his role that gave birth to the Rivers State Peace Agreement, but hit at his Governor Sim Fubara’s plotical camp, saying those who pleaded for the president’s intervention were the same people that dragged the number one citizen to Court for same intervention.
Wike, speaking at an event in Port Harcourt on Christmas eve, said President Tinubu should rather be appreciated for intervening in Rivers State’s political crisis.
Wike, a special guest at the 20th Wedding Anniversary/Thanksgiving of George-Kelly D.A. Alabo at The Kings Assembly Church, said it was strange that the same people who went to beg President Bola Tinubu to intervene in Rivers State issues were the ones saying the president lacks the Constitutional power to intervene.
The former governor of Rivers State stated that he was not the one that went to the president to seek his intervention, but people from Governor Fubara’s political camp.
Apparently jeering at the other camp, he said they were saying, “president intervene, president intervene, and president intervened, they are now saying Mr President has no Constitutional power to have intervened.
“But they were the same people that sought the president’s intervention and he has intervened to bring peace. They are now turning around to say no, the president does not have the Constitutional power.”
He said he would always defer to the President in any circumstance, adding that, “If Mr President invites me to a meeting and tells me to do something, within 24 hours I will carry it out. Mr President invited us and said do this, do this, and this. You agreed, but later, you started saying he has no power to intervene. As for me, I have subjected myself to the peace process.”
He accused some prominent persons within and outside the State of meddling in the matter, but advised not to fall for political lies and propaganda but to always seek the truth.
He debunked that the stories of him making demands on the State are false, asking the perceived propagandists to “leave blackmail and propaganda. There is nothing I am looking for in the State. The truth would eventually come out.”
The minister, who said there are rules in every career, insisted that politicians must learn to follow the rules.
“Being a Pastor, there are rules. Being a traditional ruler, there are rules. If you are aspiring to be a politician, know that there are also rules you must obey.
“I was Governor, I also obeyed rules and that didn’t stop me from performing my functions. That’s why you can see me with leaders. I would have thrown them away too, but I didn’t.
“If you get to the top and destroy the ladder, I don’t know how you will come down”, he added.
While saying that power and money can build or destroy people, the immediate past governor of Rivers State said he had never for one day, done anything to bring the State down.
He rather said; “As governor, I fought many States to win back our oil wells. The money we are getting from those oil wells today is not in my pocket. Rather, it is for the benefit of the State.”
He added, “We must tell our people the simple truth. I have done my own part and I am happy. I am doing well in Abuja too. There is nothing I am looking for in this State now.
Cautioning people fueling ethnic division in the State the FCT minister said, “All of us, irrespective of who we are, we should know that Rivers State belongs to all of us irrespective of where you come from.
“When we were choosing who would rule we never shouted Asawana.”
He urged the church to continue to pray for peace to reign in the State and the country, and also pray for the president to succeed, saying “if the president does not succeed, all of us will suffer it.
“As for me, I will continue to do my best to make sure that the president succeeds.”
Meanwhile, sources in the Governor Fubara’s camp however warned those listening to the former governor to be warry, saying he speaks what is convenient to him at one time and another at another time.
A former commissioner, who didn’t want his name in print, said Wike fought against Rivers oil wells when he was at the centre only to begin to fight for the wells when he became governor.
The source who was in the Aso Rock meeting said if Wike said he did not go to the president, it must be because the war against Fubara was his handwork.
The source pointed out that even some persons in the meeting pointed out to the president some constitutional breaches he was committing but which Tinubu brushed them off.
He said testimonies from the meeting indicated that the parties were not allowed to table their grievances to allow a form of reconciliation to take place before he said the president slammed his proclamation, an indication that Wike camp had briefed the president and made him take a position before inviting Governor Fubara.
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