Nyesom Wike, the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, has criticised Rivers elders for backing Governor Siminalayi Fubara amidst the ongoing political crisis in the state.
During a thanksgiving ceremony, Wike lashed out at the elders for their partisanship and accused them of disregarding President Tinubu’s intervention in the crisis.
Addressing the gathering, Wike accused the elders of pursuing self-interests and cautioned against blindly following political narratives without understanding their origins.
His words: “When I was running for governor, I was invited (and told) 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 the elders of the state had 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.”
The FCT Minister also warned against propaganda, even as he expressed dismay that some of the elders he made have joined in criticising him.
He said, “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.”
He said those bringing in ethnic sentiments were ill-informed, saying, “All of us in this state, irrespective of where you come from, know this state belongs to all of us. There is nothing like Ijaw, there is nothing like Ikwerre. All I know is Rivers State.
“If you want to settle us, set out the facts. Don’t just be shouting asawana (a popular solidarity mantra). No, because when we were choosing who would rule, you never shouted ‘asawana’.
“Now they’re carrying flags and shouting asawana up and down. Are you people aware that Mr President actually called us privately and told us what to do? He didn’t do it, and now Mr President then said okay, the larger house should come, and they’re saying he does not have the constitutional right to do that. I have subjected myself to the peace process.”
