No place for opposition in Rivers State, as Wike holds sway

By ORI MARTINS

In spite of the fact that Rivers state is clearly a flash point in view of the various overplay of issues led to the 2019 general elections, the huge, intimidating and overbearing image of Governor Nyesom Wike in all ramifications has become an issue toward the 2023 elections and his face off with the leadership of the People’s Democratic, PDP.

He has not only become the issue in the national party quest to regain power but also at the state, which seems to have assumed greater significance, since his claim that he is in control of the state, and wherever he goes the state goes with him.

It is a statement that had ruffled many feathers in the PDP, with some people, such as former governor of Jigawa state and foreign minister, Sule Lamido, who, Wike, himself described, as ” one of Atiku”s attack dogs,” in a television interview, challenging the assertion, insisting that Wike is just a governor and will become irrelevant and history by May 2023.

Since the return of democracy in 1999, Rivers state has proved to be the most critical in terms of electoral weight in the south, even more than Lagos, which has the highest population in the country. In the 2019 polls, it was evident that Wike was fully in charge as he confronted federal might led by former governor, and minister of Transportation, Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi, who unleashed powerful forces to upstage Wike. But to no avail.

Wike appears to represent what Asiwaju Bola Tinubu exemplified, during the administration of former president Obasanjo, who was able to rebuff federal attempt to take over the state politically. Having successfully defeated the federal attempt to snatch the state from him in the 2019, Wike turned to opponents within the state and practically ran everyone out of town including the ebullient Amaechi and his gang.

Every available indicator points to the fact that Wike has sensationally crushed virtually all oppositions in the state and, therefore, can rightly be described as the supreme leader or emperor of Rivers State. His opponents – be them aggrieved PDP members or those of the other parties – dread Wike’s clout, tentacles or general approach to political matters.

To ignore this fact, as the likes of Lamido pretend to do, is to deny the obvious and court political disaster, as confronts Atiku Abubakar, PDP’s presidential candidate, were Wike to remain recalcitrant and work against the party.

If Tinubu could ‘colonise’ Lagos state the way he has since leaving office in 2007, it sounds uncharitable and impudent for Lamido to believe that the same cannot be possible with Wike in spite of his political accomplishments.

As a matter of certainty, Wike reportedly confined his majestic triumph over his opponents not quite long ago. In his words he stated that he, alongside his camp had collapsed all oppositions in Rivers State.

According to him; “We have collapsed opposition parties in Rivers State”. This may be an overstatement but it is not far from the reality.

Since the fallout with the party leadership after the June 29 presidential primary in Abuja, Wike had consolidated his power by sacking all those seen to be cohorting with the Atiku camp, including the likes of Austin Opara, former deputy Speaker, House of Reps.

In actual fact, Wike’s number one well known enemy is the former national chairman of the PDP, Prince Uche Secondus. Secondus has been identified as a major associate of the party’s presidential candidate Alhaji Atiku Abubakar.

Secondus and Wike were very close allies even as the latter funded the eventual emergence of the former as the PDP national chairman. Both men became estranged when Wike commenced the realization of his presidential dream and it became clear that Secondus could not be the party’s headman while the governor was at the same time negotiating for the presidential ticket of the party.

Indeed, it was shocking to the watchers of the Rivers State pulsating politics how Wike moved in with the same vigour and speed with which he installed Secondus to equally dethrone him from his exalted position. Secondus was Wike’s first casualty in the battle to the 2023 presidential elections.

“Personally, I was shocked and surprised when I first noticed that Wike and Sercondus were no longer on the same political page both locally here in Rivers and at the national politics. I asked the question: between Wike and Secondus, who is at fault?

“Did Wike really brief Secondus of his intentions? Or did he just get on him like that? Since Secondus knew the roles Wike played towards his election as PDP national chairman, why didn’t he play accordingly in order to keep their political relationship going and kicking?”, was how Prince Hamilton Smart, a Port Harcourt public affairs analyst put it during a telephone interaction.

To put it succinctly, Wike labelled Secondus an enemy of Rivers State.

“If anybody fights our system we will fight the person back. Let me tell you what you don’t understand about politics. The moment you claim to be working with us and tomorrow you shift to our enemy, we will take every might we have, we will even leave our enemy and finish you first.

“So all of you who are going back to Abuja to hold meetings with our enemies in the state, I’m going to finish you to the last. We removed a National Party Chairman who was not doing well. All of them were here.

“We all agreed, now they are going to Abuja to hold meetings with the man we removed, thinking they will use that to fight us, we will crush them;” Wike sounded this warning at the flagging off of the construction of internal roads in Omagwa, Ikwerre Local Government Area of the state in the course of the present rift.

Secondus did not allow Wike’s outburst to go unattended to. He returned fire for fire though in a subtle manner. He informed his erstwhile friend and confidant that only God can fire.

According to Secondus, who responded through his media aide, Ike Abonyi, “nobody has the right to remain in power forever. Wike, you cannot crush anybody. I cannot fight, only God can crush”.

Head-to-head, Wike has got the better part of Secondus. This is because, while the latter is now being addressed as ex and former national chairman of PDP, the former who though lost his presidential and running mate bids, is still waxing stronger and going higher.

A clear demonstration of the fact that Wike has practically stood down all levels of opposition in Rivers State was when a Federal House of Representatives member, Farah Dagogo, declared support for Atiku rather than allegiance to his state governor.

Political pundits noted that it meant Dagogo had lost out to Wike and so pandered to Atiku for rescue or as a last resort.

“Dagogo’s parley with Atiku is a confirmation that he has lost to Wike. Otherwise, every politics is local. And so, it was expected that he ought to have been standing by his governor who for now is at war of attrition with Atiku.

“It signifies that he is either running to Atiku to be rescued or there is nothing else he knew he could do”, Donald Eweikie, a member of PDP in Rivers State revealed.

Dagogo, you must recall, was prosecuted by the Rivers State Government not too long ago for his alleged involvement in cultism in the state.
Dagogo, who represents Degema/ Bonny Federal Constituency has made it clear that he would mobilize and subsequently organize a 10-million-man-march for Atiku and Okowa across the South-South sates.

The federal lawmaker, speaking though his media aide, Ibrahim Lawal, insisted that the Niger Delta region would vote for the PDP at all levels in the 2023 general elections because “this has been a traditional stronghold of the PDP from 1999 till date and 2023 will not be an exception”.

Yet, the fact remains that whenever the list of victims of Wike’s political machine is released, Dagogo will certainly make it as he is counted among those who have lost to the Rivers State governor.

Obviously, among those who have suffered political misfortune in the hands of Wike is the former deputy speaker of the Federal House of Representatives, Rt. Hon. Austin Opara. Opara has been declared persona non grata by Wike for the reason that he was not only being sympathetic to the PDP presidential candidate, Atiku, he was equally seen identifying with him in Abuja.

To this effect, Wike pulled the carpet off Opara’s feet by directing PDP members in his ward not to report or have anything to do with him as a leader. Wike insisted that Opara was a saboteur and as such must be treated like one. Other PDP members who disregarded Wike’s directives not to have anything to do with Atiku were sanctioned in various ways.

Still counting on the spoils of his victory, Wike during activities to celebrate former governor, Dr Peter Odili’s 74 birthday, held at a new Old Government Residential Area, Port Harcourt, stated that some party leaders who had earlier indicated interest to fly the PDP ticket but failed were the ones spearheading the gang up against him.

“Rivers PDP governorship primary losers are plotting my downfall. They are not happy with the election that produced former State Account General, Sim Fubara as candidate. On my last birthday, 12 midnight, some of our elders called to see me.

“They said they came to wish me happy birthday. Then, they presented me a letter that I should run for president. All of them including Dr. Abiye (Sekibo) signed the document. I say okay, you people too should go and give me someone who will be governor after me.

“They all sat there, looking left and right. I asked them, those of you who are interested to be governor should raise your hands. Everybody raised hand. One person didn’t raise his hand, Sen Bari Mpigi. I asked why he was not interested, he replied, Sir, let me hold what God has given me. I don’t want to lose the two.”

The point that must be made clear is that no matter how you love or loathe Wike, he at least, uses the frame work of constitutionality and constitutionalism in his chequered fight against his political enemies, real or imaginary.

“I think we must credit Wike for always employing the instrument of legal applications in fighting all his political battles. In all his disputes politically, Wike normally goes to court and we applaud him for that”, Dikachi Onyendi, a taxi driver in Port Harcourt, observed.

Probably, the above accounted for the reason the chief of staff to the governor, Chief Emeka Woke, informed journalists that “but for Wike’s benevolence, Igwe would have gone into political extinction”.

Hon Chinyere Igwe, a member of House of Representatives is facing prosecution over his alleged involvement in sale of illegally refined petroleum products and therefore Wike had declared Igwe wanted for allegedly selling of illegally refined petroleum products in his petrol station.

But Igwe noted that he was being persecuted in view of his political disagreements with the Rivers State governor. However, Woke, described Igwe’s defence as a “serious blackmail to the governor, Rivers State Government and her people”.

He said, “I listened to Chinyere Igwe talking about ingratitude. A man that has been retired politically. This is the man who spent only one term in the House of Representatives and came back home. The immediate past governor of Rivers State, Rotimi Amaechi, chased him out of Port Harcourt and he ran to Abuja.

“He even contested on the platform of ACN then, and lost. When we had mobilised GDI and had strengthened the party (Peoples Democratic Party), we brought him back and those of them whom he said he is speaking for now. None of them were foundation members of GDI.

“His Excellency, the governor gave him platform, first as a commissioner and then to the National Assembly, even though he didn’t win the primary. And today, he is talking about ingratitude.”

Besides fellow PDP members who Wike sees as opponents and who he has on paper, crushed, at least, for now, there are other Rivers politicians the governor has battled to standstill. This list includes largely members of the APC. As it is, the APC politicians in Rivers were the first he went to the trenches with.

His first port of call was at the threshold of former governor, Rt. Hon. Rotimi Amaechi. The mere fact that Wike never allowed Amaechi to produce his successor was a shattering blow. Even in 2019, the APC in Rivers State never had any candidate in any of the elections held in the state.

At the moment, both the APC and the PDP are still in court over suits and counter suits pertaining to the 2023 general elections regarding both parties’ candidates. According an account; “The PDP in July filed a suit before a Federal High Court to seek the non-recognition of APC candidates for the National Assembly election by INEC because the electoral umpire did not monitor the primaries, among other alleged discrepancies.

“In one of the suits filed by the APC, marked, FHC/PH/CS/162/2022, the party prayed a Federal High Court in Port Harcourt to disqualify the governorship candidate of the PDP, Siminialayi Fubara from contesting the election over allegations that his party erred on some provisions of the new Electoral Act.

“In the second suit, with number FHC/PH/CS/163/2022, the APC is seeking the powers of the court to disqualify all 32 candidates of the PDP for the State Assembly elections for same reasons. The reasons are that the PDP delayed in forwarding the register containing the names of their candidates to the Independent National Electoral Commission within thirty days as required by law.

The APC also alleged that the party did not properly sign the letter containing the names of the candidates before forwarding it to the electoral umpire.

It remains to be seen if Wike will equally triumph over his political war against the national PDP. Wike has been at daggers drawn with Atiku for the refusal of the PDP presidential candidate to pick him as his running mate for the 2013 election. Atiku had picked Delta State governor, Senator Ifeanyi Okowa and Wike said he was disregarded.

As if he were right in his claims, Wike is being supported by governors Sam Ortom of Benue State, Seyi Makinde of Oyo State, Okezie Ikpeazu of Abia State, Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi of Enugu State; party elders, such as Donald Duke, Ayo Fayose, and a former minister for Information, Prof. Jerry Gana are all in agreement with Wike. Can he, therefore, re-enact at the national level his political dominance at in his local Rivers State?
Austin Akanne, a commentator on national issues said; “Wike is important to PDP just as the party is also important to him. I urge him to have a rethink. He has showed capacity and capability. He has proved himself.

“At a time, PDP would not have survived without him. I know why he is still fighting. He believes those who ought to have been with him stabbed him. That is politics. He should not because of it destroy the house he built.
I do not think Wike will ride over PDP because the party is usually supreme. He should come down from his high horse.”

However, Angela Obionye stated that Atiku and PDP must work to bring back Wike to fully to support PDP, because the 2023 presidential election would be too close-to-call hence even 1000 votes matter so much. She appealed that Wike’s Rivers State with at least three million voters is very key to be ignored or thrown out just like that.