Wike, Fubara and Tinubu’s helplessness

That the Rivers house of assembly has issued an impeachment notice against Governor Sim Fubara – the second in a year – shows just how serious Nyesom Wike is to get rid of the governor and take full control of the state once again. The renewed rift between the governor and the FCT minister was triggered by the governor’s refusal to present a supplementary budget as requested by the minister.

But the governor is insisting that there is no need to present a supplementary budget because the N1.48 trillion budget passed by the national assembly in June for the state for the 2025 fiscal year, during the emergency rule, is sufficient. Why does the FCT minister want a supplementary budget? This is yet again another challenge to the APC and President Tinubu who seems so helpless in managing his minister. Never before in the history of this country has a minister become so lawless, ruthless and a threat to decency and peace, while the president appears either helpless or complicit.

For over a week now, Wike has been going around the state, moving from one local government to another, openly insulting and threatening the Rivers governor, who is an APC Governor, yet the Progressive Governors Forum has not uttered a word either to condemn the minister or support Fubara. ‎The minister has even threatened that even President Tinubu should not dare to intervene to help the governor.

Matters came to a head last week when APC zonal chairman for the south-south region, Victor Giadom, joined in denigrating Fubara, describing him as the ‘’so-called governor’’. Moved by Giadom’s insults, APC national secretary, Senator Ajibola Basiru, issued a statement, asking all members of NWC to accord APC governors their due respect. He reiterated that APC governors remain the leaders of the party in their states. This infuriated Wike, who launched a series of tirades against Basiru, caping them with the allegations that Basiru and other APC leaders might have received illegal benefits from Fubara.

Wike’s uncouth utterances have become an unbearable public stench, a serious erosion of decency in public affairs and a dilemma to Tinubu. Rivers state has lost so much in the last two years since this fight broke out. It would seem that the president is so beholden to the FCT minister that he’s willing to put up with his excesses till the next election. Tinubu is convinced that without Wike, his chances of winning the 2023 election would have been far slimmer or even zero.

So, those who expect that the minister would be disciplined are mistaken. It doesn’t matter that the minister’s threats to the governor are tantamount to a direct affront to the president and the APC leadership; that Wike has effectively placed himself above Tinubu, APC NWC and APC Governors’ Forum and that he is essentially seeking to override an important doctrine of APC which places the governor as the leader of the party in every state.

‎Last week, the minister boasted: “I hear that people are boasting that they will call me and give me instructions. Let me tell you, there’s nothing like instruction as far as Rivers State is concerned. Nobody will call me. We have agreed Mr President will serve his two terms, but the other one is a no-go area. I challenged the Federal govt when I was governor…I will challenge them again… “.

What’s the message here? Wike is sending a subtle but direct warning and threat to President Tinubu that the president has no say in the politics of the APC in Rivers state.

In other words, Wike, a non-APC member, is warning the president, who is the national leader of APC, never to meddle in the affairs of Rivers state APC, or he will challenge or call the president to order. Keep in mind that Wike is a minister in Tinubu’s government. If this is not an effrontery, insolence and impertinence, tell me what is.

‎Wike is emboldened by his huge wealth, the sources of which are not clear, and the ignoble roles he played during the 2023 elections in Rivers state, which swung the vote in favour of the president. But he has since grown into a big monster who cannot be tamed, holding Rivers state, the president and the APC to ransom. It is a classic case of state capture. To cap it all, the minister is sending his 25-year-old son to go to the house of representatives in 2027. The young man has been touring the state with his father.

The Wike-Tinubu love affair and its noxious impacts on our polity are a good example of why good character is an essential ingredient in leadership. Both men love, admire and inspire each other so much so that they will do anything for each other, even at a huge cost to the nation. If Wike eventually succeeds in his mission to have Rivers state in his back pocket, he would have learned a thing from the president himself.

•Written By Etim Etim