Elder statesmen and former Federal Commissioner of Information, Chief Edwin Clark, yesterday condemned the agreement that was allegedly dictated by the presidency between the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike and the Governor of Rivers state, Siminalayi Fubara.
He urged President Bola Tinubu to listen to the governor’s own side of the story before taking another necessary set of actions.
In a TV interview on Sunday, Clark described the agreement as a master-slave deal which is not going to hold because it erodes the mandate given to Fubara by the people of the state.
The Ijaw leader insisted that Fubara would renege on that agreement and would continue to be the governor of the state.
Clark said that Wike appointed all the commissioners in Fubara’s administration, including the retention of those that worked under him as governor.
He accused Wike of hijacking the political structures in both Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the state, noting that the PDP has an elected chairman but Wike has allegedly taken over the party.
“So, I am pleading with President Bola Tinubu to listen to the other side of the story and review his view about what is happening in Rivers state. Wike appointed all the commissioners in Fubara’s government and nine have resigned and cannot go back.
Twenty seven members of the House of Assembly have decamped from PDP to APC and have lost their seats. So, it is the courts that will decide their fate,” he said.
Clark wondered where Wike was getting all the money he was using, noting that he paid for all the forms of all the contestants in PDP in the last election and insisted that Wike ought to be arrested and be investigated by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to explain his source of wealth.
He described Wike’s remarks about the elders of Rivers state opposed to him as irresponsible and said that it is unfortunate that Wike regards himself as the owner of Rivers state.
Reacting to Wike’s mantra that ‘agreement is an agreement’, referring to the agreement the FCT minister had earlier with Fubara before he became governor, Clark said that the agreement was a non-issue.
He reiterated that nothing would happen to Fubara if he negates the agreement, adding that the agreement is a nullity.
“Fubara will remain the governor of Rivers state. He has the mandate of the people and the president will take him as one of his sons. The president should not do anything that will make him a dictator, an action that will lay a bad precedence,” he said.
He said that Fubara should make the agreement public, alleging that Wike wanted to cage Fubara with the agreement.
Meanwhile, the FCT Minister, Wike, has said that Tinubu deserves appreciation for helping to douse the political tension in Rivers State.
He disclosed this yesterday in Port Harcourt at the 20th wedding anniversary/thanksgiving of George-Kelly Alabo.
Wike said it was strange that the same people who went to beg Tinubu to intervene in Rivers state issues were the ones now saying he lacks the constitutional power to intervene.
While insisting that he was not the one that brokered the intervention of the president, he nevertheless asserted that Tinubu must be lauded for his fatherly role.
“We must thank Mr President for interfering and intervening, but I was not even the one who went to the president to seek for his intervention.
“They were saying ‘president intervene’ and the president intervened. They are now saying Mr President has no constitutional power to have intervened. But they were the same people who sought the president’s intervention and he has intervened to bring peace. They are now turning around to say no, the president does not have the constitutional power.
“No matter what circumstances, if Mr President invites me to a meeting and tells me to do something, within 24 hours I will carry it out. Mr President invited us and said do this, do this and this. You agreed, but later, you started saying he has no power to intervene. As for me, I have subjected myself to the peace process,” Wike said.
He refuted insinuations that he made demands on the state while urging those taking sides in the political crisis in the state not to fall for political lies and innuendoes.
While saying that power and money can build or destroy people, the FCT minister said he had never for one day, done anything to bring the state down.
“As governor, I fought many states to win back our oil wells. The money we are getting from those oil wells today is not in my pocket. Rather, it is for the benefit of the state.
“We must tell our people the simple truth. I have done my own part and I am happy. I am doing well in Abuja too. There is nothing I am looking for in this state now,” he said.
He urged the church to continue to pray for peace to reign in the state and the country, and also pray for the president to succeed, saying “if the president does not succeed, all of us will suffer it.”
Chinedu Eze and Olawale Ajimotokan
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