Wike and Fubara
Top leaders of the All Progressives Congress have declared support for the Rivers State Governor, Siminalayi Fubara, amid renewed hostilities between him and the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike.
The National Secretary of the APC, Ajibola Basiru, in an interview with Sunday PUNCH, said Fubara had the full support of the party for his re-election campaign.
“Nobody can frustrate any APC governor. Fubara, like other APC governors, is running the affairs of his state well,” he added.
Fubara defected from the Peoples Democratic Party to the ruling APC on December 9, a move widely regarded as a political realignment for his second-term ambition.
His defection came shortly after 17 members of the Rivers State House of Assembly also joined the APC.
The National Chairman of the APC, Prof. Nentawe Yilwatda, had also declared Fubara as the leader of the party in the state.
Yilwatda, who spoke on Channels Television’s Hard Copy programme aired on Friday, said, “Governor Fubara is the leader of the APC in Rivers State, but he would need to coordinate with every other person in the state.”
Renewed rift
The governor’s defection heightened the tension between him and Wike, as the FCT minister declared that Fubara’s second term was not guaranteed even under the APC.
The FCT minister had accused Fubara of breaching the peace agreement reached between them and warned against what he described as “opportunistic politics.”
Speaking during his monthly media chat, Wike had insisted that Fubara’s defection to the APC didn’t make the governor the party leader in the state.
He boasted that he remained the leader of politics in Rivers, adding that his supporters controlled the local governments and ward structures across the state.
Apparently responding to Wike’s criticism, Fubara, at a public function aired by Arise TV, said he was blackmailed in several places.
“The only reason the dog barks is when it doesn’t understand. We know where we are going and have set all the things that are needed to make the journey smooth,” he added, Punch
