Former Special Adviser to Ex-Rivers Governor Nyesom Wike and civil rights advocate, Opunabo inko-Tariah, has termed the ongoing issue in Rivers State, a pestilence of godfatherism.
Inko-Tariah, in an interview with ARISE NEWS on Thursday, said the problems were festered by governor Wike’s desire to control, adding that the last eight years was hell for the people of the State under his government.
“The problem we are having in Rivers State is a pestilence of Godfatherism. It is a situation where you have wealth, painted by cupidity and is being festered by the desire to control. That is what is going on. The present minister himself said he bought forms. In any civilized crime, by now he should be cooling off in one of these DSS or police detention camps. He bought forms with whose money?
“People talk of good governance in Rivers State, you talk of infrastructure, I think it’s a distorted understanding of what really went on in Rivers State. For eight solid years, there was no agriculture in Rivers State, the employment rate dropped. We are about the least employed state in the country. People were hungry and you are talking about the infrastructure.
“What he wants is absolute control. He doesn’t want anybody, even those that are supposed to visit the Governor in the government house are being restricted. Why did Fubara cancel most of the appointments in Ajuri University? Most of them were Ikwerres and Fubara said most of them were not qualified and that was why he had to cancel them all. We all know that if you get to Rivers State now, most of the appointments made by Wike were tribalistic and Fubara said most of them were not qualified and that was why he had to cancel them all.”
The Civil right advocate also stated that it is incontrovertible that Wike controls both the APC and PDP in Rivers State.
“It is incontrovertible. I can tell you that. For example, now, we have the recent appointment of the caretaker committee of the APC, we are talking of the members; Tony Okocha and co. These were all engineered by Nyesom Wike. It is no hidden fact. They were all orchestrated by him. Meanwhile, to leave the PDP, he doesn’t want to leave. As for the PDP, of course, before he left the state, he was in charge of the structure, you know, the governors and leaders of the party.
“When he said someone wants to take away the structure from him, it’s completely laughable. He suffers from the eclipse of reasoning and poverty of logic. If you talk of the structure, we have the likes of Peter Odili who had the strongest structure and strongest hold of the structure in Rivers State.
“Wike doesn’t even have the clout that the world thinks he has. He is an opportunist. If he thinks that he is going to make the state ungovernable for Fubara, then it’s a grand delusion. “
Chioma Kalu
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