Rivers Crisis: Wike accuses Odili of backing Fubara’s defiance
The Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, has accused former Rivers State Governor Peter Odili of encouraging Governor Siminalayi Fubara to defy President Bola Tinubu’s peace agreement aimed at resolving the state’s political crisis.
The crisis, which began in 2023, stems from a battle for political control between Fubara and his predecessor, Wike, despite interventions by party stakeholders and Tinubu.
As part of the efforts to restore peace, Fubara and Wike’s camp signed an eight-point peace deal brokered during a high-level meeting at the Presidential Villa in Abuja.
The meeting was attended by Tinubu, Odili, and other key stakeholders. However, the agreement collapsed, with Fubara claiming he was coerced into signing the deal.
On December 28, during an event in Port Harcourt, Odili praised Fubara for resisting Wike’s alleged attempts to dominate the state, accusing Wike of acting out of self-interest.
In response, Wike, during a reception for Rivers State stakeholders on Friday, held Odili responsible for the breakdown of the peace agreement between his camp and Fubara.
He said, “Odili said somebody is converting Rivers State to his personal estate and we have now come to show statistics that it is not correct. The man who is converting Rivers State to a personal estate is you, and to crown it all, you are now the general overseer.
“They said Tinubu should be careful, but Tinubu is not like you. Tinubu called Rivers people, your elder statesman (Odili), supposedly. You are Tinubu’s colleague, the President’s colleague, and Mr President read this thing (peace agreement) to them, and you read it and came back home.
“Ordinarily, what you (Odili) should have done was to call Mr President back and say, ‘Mr President, I have tried, we have implemented A, B, C, D, E, it remains F, G, H. Is there any way we can meet again to reconcile these F, G, H?’ Never, rather you encouraged him (Fubara) to disobey everything Mr President said.”
Wike also stated that he is unapologetic for working against the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) 2023 presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, and the party’s former chairman, Uche Secondus.
He added, “When I said Secondus, you will not be chairman again, yes, I did it. In 2023, they said Atiku was coming, I said where? There was nothing I was not offered. I told PDP I would not support Atiku because I am not a second-class citizen. I must support the South to produce a President. Even though I know their offer was wayo (fake).
“I ran for the local government election in 1999, and up until today, I have never lost an election, and nobody I have supported has lost. I have no regret in supporting Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu. Wherever you are, pray for Mr President. We will continue to support him. It will be better this year. Mr President is taking tough decisions but for the interest of the country.”
