Nyesom Wike, Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) and former governor of Rivers State, characterized his successor, Siminalayi Fubara, as an ingrate over what he called the governor’s attempt to undermine his political structure in the state on Friday.
This came as the minister reaffirmed his commitment to President Bola Tinubu, declaring he would not run against him in the 2027 presidential election.
In addressing the Rivers State political rivalry, Wike accused Fubara of attempting to create a political issue for himself.”Let me tell you something: I despise jerks. I can’t take it anymore. What is happening in Rivers presently is similar to what former Governor Peter Odili said in his book: ‘Give a guy power and money, and you will know the person.’ If you haven’t given a person time and money, you don’t know who they are.
“He may be your friend, he may be your son, sister or mother or father. I don’t want to go into that,” the minister stressed.
He accused Fubara of seeking to destroy the structure which produced him as governor just within three months of his emergence as governor.
“You know what is painful? All these allegations, I smile. Who and who sat with him. In all your doings be grateful in your life no matter the circumstance. Nobody who is a gentleman and a politician will support this kind of thing.
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“I left projects for him to commission so he would showcase them during his 100 days, then politics came in. We are just starting. God gave you something, you are now importing crisis.
“God gave this (power) on a platter of gold, no crisis. The federal government is not fighting you, nobody at home is fighting you. You are the one trying to create a crisis for yourself.
“What kind of system is that? Who does that? Only ingrates that it is in their blood that will support what is happening there (in Rivers). Only those who are naturally ingrate.”
He stressed that his loyalty to Tinubu stemmed from the fact that the President made him the FCT Minister, having worked for the emergence of Tinubu who, against all odds, defeated all his major adversaries in Rivers State during the presidential election.
The former Rivers State Governor vowed that he would not allow anybody to crumble the political structure ahead of 2027, saying good character should never be compromised on the altar of politics.
“Nothing would make me contest against the President in 2027. Tinubu made me minister, people don’t understand, I have character. What will happen in 2027? I stood and I said I am not going to support this injustice. I was threatened that they will do me this and they would do me that. They tried many options, including using Major Generals.
“So, I stood firm with myself. This is injustice. I would not allow it. And I never collected a dime. Some people would have gone to the President and say ‘sir, we will give you this. We need so much money’. I never collected one naira from Tinubu.“I challenge anybody. When we made a decision that we would support Mr. President, we went and did it. We said, we have looked at all the people from the South, you are the only credible candidate, not on sentiment, not on religious background.
“My son is a reverend, yes. I won’t throw away my vote. I want to elect a leader who will be relevant and somebody who will lead Nigeria very well.“I never knew he would make me FCT Minister, I swear. There are some people who are not happy because of their religious line and party background. They carry all kinds of false information. They don’t have character. I have character. I challenge anybody to say if they gave us money. Instead of people focusing on Tinubu to achieve, they are focusing on propaganda and irrelevant reports on Wike,” he said.
