The Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, has attributed the political crisis in Rivers State to what he described as the early mistakes made by his successor, Governor Siminalayi Fubara, accusing him of attempting to establish an independent political structure shortly after assuming office.
According to Wike, Fubara began distancing himself from the political machinery that produced him within his first 100 days in office, a move he said undermined those who worked for his emergence as governor.
The former Rivers State governor made the remarks during a special media chat held in Port Harcourt on Saturday.
Wike said he had expected Fubara to build on the developmental foundation laid by his administration, particularly in infrastructure, with the goal of positioning Rivers State to rival Lagos.
He cited the multi-billion-naira Port Harcourt Ring Road project, which spans several local government areas, as one of the legacy initiatives that had already commenced before he left office.
He also highlighted the construction of 12 flyovers during his administration, noting that the projects transformed the road network and improved the aesthetics of Port Harcourt and its surrounding communities.
Reflecting on the transition of power, Wike said political leaders must exercise caution in the advice they receive, especially after assuming office.
“In politics you have to be careful. There are those who want you to succeed and make a name. The opportunity that you have been given, not everybody that has that opportunity. There are those who are not happy who don’t want you to be there, and you have to be very careful.
“Remember before I handed over to governor Fubara we did a church service and I did say that you have been elected. Few days you will be sworn in, Now what do you want to achieve? See where I have stopped. My thinking is that we do need to compete with Lagos. We have laid the foundation, he (Fubara) should be able to continue from there, we will give you all the necessary support.”
Wike alleged that some individuals who never supported Fubara’s emergence as governor influenced him to confront those who facilitated his rise to power.
According to him, political office holders often come under pressure from different interest groups, including family members and associates, making it important to carefully evaluate the advice they receive.
“But listen, in this game you have your stone base (support), you have your village relation, you have all kinds and manner of people. There are those who will mean well for you, there are those who will not mean well for you.
“Now you just came to office, somebody now comes, yes he is trying to support you. Must it be his name? Why not try now to put yourself and people know that it is you.
“Yes you came through him but it is now you; all kinds of manner of things. Some will even go through your wife. Some people will go through your in-laws. So people will go through your father and all kinds of things. So it now behoves on you to sit and say, this kind of advice, where will it lead me to?
“You have to think well. If you make the mistake which he made by saying that yes I can do it alone, those who gave me support I don’t care, I don’t need them. Those who didn’t want you will come in. There is no way anybody who didn’t want you to be in a position will want you to succeed.
“Yes, he tried to do it by himself and he wanted to set up his own structure as against the structure that built him. In fact it did not take up to 100 days and we saw it. We said something must be fundamentally wrong. Forget about people who say you were asking him for money. You know one thing in politics is that the moment you disagree on an issue, the only thing you can use to get the support of the people is that they are asking me for money.”
Wike said the political developments distracted the governor from governance and slowed the pace of development in Rivers State.
Recalling the achievements of his own administration, he said discipline and focus enabled him to execute numerous projects before leaving office.
“You (referring to one of the journalists) have said here that Nigerians were astonished by me taking 31 days of commission and flag off which no governor in this country has ever done. We were focused but you see, he (Fubara) lost focus here.”
The FCT minister also dismissed allegations that he demanded money from Governor Fubara, describing the claims as a familiar tactic used during political disagreements.
He argued that, as Minister of the Federal Capital Territory with a budget running into trillions of naira, he had no reason to seek financial benefits from his successor.
Instead, he said his only expectation was for Fubara to consolidate on the achievements of his administration and maintain political stability in the state.
“If it was money that we were asking for we wouldn’t have prevailed. But we said look this is a political group that worked hard it will be too wrong, too early for anybody to give you this advice. We said look what do I want, Minister of the Federal Capital Territory. It’s just like a governor. I present my own budget, The budget of the FCT this year is about N1.8 trillion, So I don’t know what I want. All I wanted was to look, stabilize the place, move on from where I stopped, and I laid a fantastic foundation so we will be able to compete with Lagos.
“Look as I went to the FCT the money FCT was collecting monthly as IGR (Internally Generated Revenue) was N8 billion. But as I speak to you today we have hit up to N40 billion monthly. That is people who want to work, who want to achieved result,
“So his mistake led to where it is too far in the day the difference between us (Rivers) and Lagos,” the former Rivers State governor added.
(Ripples)