.Insists Fubara, Wike ran the same govt
.’Move to humiliate FCT minister’
CHIGOZIE AMADI
An ally of the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, Minister, Nyesom Wike, and former representative of the Rivers South East Senatorial District at the National Assembly, Senator Olaka Nwogu has described the move by the Rivers State Governor, Sir Siminalayi Fubara to probe the past administration of the state government as ploy to further heighten the already tensed political crisis in the state.
Nwogu, who was responding to the announcement by Governor Fubara to set up a judicial panel of inquiry to probe Wike’s administration would be described as witch-hunt and would not promote good governance in the state.
Recall that Governor Fubara had on Monday while swearing in Dagogo Iboroma, SAN, as the new Attorney General and Commissioner of Justice, announced plan by his administration to set up a judicial panel of inquiry to investigate how the affairs of governance were conducted in the State before he assumed office.
The Governor, who regretted that the state is in a critical situation as a result of the political crisis caused by the feud between him and his predecessor and FCT Minister,Nyesom admitted that the crisis can no longer be resolved amicably.
He said, “We are bringing you in as Attorney General, at this very critical time. You have a big task. As it is today, in the local parlance, they say the jungle has matured. We will be setting a panel of inquiry to investigate the affairs of governance,” he said. “So brace up. I am not going back on it”.
The FCT Minister, Nyesom Wike is the immediate past Governor of Rivers State who left office last year before Governor Fubara assumed office. He served two tenures between 2015 and 2023.
Senator Olaka Nwogu, in his response to the Governor’s threat said, the moves by the state government to investigate Wike’s administration as governor of Rivers State, would never be objective as Wike and Fubara ran the same administration, with the later serving as the Accountant General of the state from 2020 to 2022.
Nwogu said, “There is nothing extraordinary about investigation except that in the circumstances we find ourselves it will not appear as something done to promote good governance.
“It appears as designed for witch-hunt or to endorse a particular label already put on somebody. Recall that when this started, they started saying that the Minister was asking for certain percentage of money which is not true.
“It was dealt with when the governor came to meet with the elders and we met with the Minister where he recanted most of the things he wrongly labeled the minister as part of the reconciliation process.
“This completely negated the instruction the President gave and the mediatory efforts of the President. The governor is saying that the President wasted his time. It is something Rivers people must be careful about.”
The former lawmaker described Wike as the greatest governor Rivers State ever produced, adding that the governor was being pushed by some people to humiliate Wike and make the people think I’ll of him.
“Some people may say condemn him but this is the greatest governor we ever had. All these are simple efforts to destroy him. If this is what they had wanted to do, it should have been part of the government.
“How is Wike and Fubara different? They ran the same government. One was the gatekeeper of the other. This is going to be very selective.
“This is an attempt to criminalise a good governor that was the envy of the entire nation. We should be careful at how far we escalate this. Let me urge for caution. Let me ask people to be mindful.”
He said the only sin the former governor committed was making Fubara a governor, observing that it became obvious that the Minister had been the victim and not the aggressor.
“All the time they say the governor is a victim the minister is the aggressor, but if you look carefully you will understand right from the beginning all the minister did was to make him a governor. So he has been at the receiving end.
“So he is actually a victim of unwarranted and undeserved attack. This agenda is unfolding and it is very terrible agenda of our state. This is the direction. This is a direct spite on the President. If he chooses to abandon the eight point agenda and to pursue this course, it means he has no respect for President’s intervention.
“If you want to probe the past administration, on which records? The person setting up the panel is also the record keeper. This is an unnecessary escalation. It tenses the place up. As a governor do your job. You will be judged by the infrastructures you provide but if you think that fighting people will add to your scorecard, let us see how.”
