Nyesom Wike, Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) has insisted he must not be rendered politically irrelevant in Rivers State.
Referring to the crisis rocking Rivers State and allegations that he was the brain behind the move to impeach Governor Siminalayi Fubara, the immediate past governor of the state spoke with some South-South leaders at his office in Abuja and stated it would be unwise and politically naive to relinquish his base to another, adding that he was not bothered by the allegations.
He said: “All of us want to be politically relevant; all of us want to maintain our political structure.
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“Is it not your political structure? Will you allow anybody to just cut you out immediately? Everybody has a base. If you take my base, am I not politically irrelevant?”
In another vein, Wike debunked claims that he wanted Fubara out of the way so that he could install a fellow Ikwerre, as governor of the state, adding that the impeachment plot had no ethnic tint to it.
Chief Edwin Clark, leader of the Pan Niger Delta Forum, PANDEF, and the Ijaw National Congress, INC, had accused him of being behind the impeachment plot and warned that the Ijaw nation would not accept that and would respond decisively.
However, Wike dismissed the allegations, describing it as a party affair.
“In politics, there are a lot of internal wranglings. That does not mean that in those internal wranglings, they would not settle within their families,” the minister said.
“But to come out to say ‘oh, they want to do this against Ijaw people,” that is very wrong.
“I was the instrument. I had every power then to say this is where this (the governorship position) is going. So, when things are wrong, you ask questions. It is a party affair and parties know how they resolve their (issues). It is not an ethnic affair. Our party is looking into it, that is all I will say. Every politician has his own interest.”
