Former Rivers State governor, Nyesom Wike has eventually opened up on his successor, Governor Siminalayi Fubara.
He said: “Felix Obuah was in my team as chairman of the party. My predecessor seized Obua’s property; everything he owned, land, schools and hotels. The wife cried to him, but he told his wife, ‘don’t worry, if it is the will of God, there is nothing you can do. He stood firm. They took everything he had.”
“He was one of the frontrunners in 2023 governorship election. I told him in my house to step down; that he won’t run. He looked at me, but I say you won’t run. He said if that was what I am saying that he won’t run. But I say you will be DG, go and campaign for that election.”
“I say you must be DG and he said if that is what you want, I will go and do it. And he did it. I see all kinds of things going on. They are talking evil about him. But he is here and he will still be here.”
“Those who open their mouth to talk.don’t know anything. I was the one who paid for the forms for anybody who wanted to run for elections as governor, House of Assembly and National Assembly. Let one person raise his hand and said he bought forms.”
“We say we are all family members, no need for acrimony. Don’t spend your money, we will agree on who will run. The day we took the final decision, the chairman of elders council nearly collapsed. He is here. OCJ was there, Awuse was there. Omehia was there.”
“He nearly collapsed. Why? He wanted a governor from the riverine area. When I looked at him, I say why would I allow this old man to just die. I say let’s not create the impression that there are people who want to monopolise power.”
“Let’s allow everybody to be part of it because we belong to one Rivers State. If I had wanted, nobody would have stopped me. Nobody had what it takes to even near me.”
“And to God be the glory, I don’t regret what I did and I will never regret what I did because I want the unity of this state for us to forge ahead. If I wanted Ikwerre man, nobody would have stopped me.”
“The politics we play in this state is the politics of unity of Rivers State, not party. When I visited Victor Giadom, I went with all PDP leaders. Today, he is here with all APC leaders. Membership of party is not on radio or television. So, all of us must make Rivers State to move forward”.
“I want to make one confession to you. I work with Mr. President and there is no way I can disobey Mr. President. It is not possible. The mere fact that Mr. President calls you and said look, allow peace here, there is no way I can disobey Mr. President.”
“I may not be happy in all resolutions, but if Mr. President calls for peace, who are you to say you don’t want peace? I will not attach any condition to what Mr. President wants from me. I will not do it.”
“So, I must obey Mr. President. I must do everything humanly possible to see that the peace arrangement is achieved in Rivers. That is what is required and I am going to do that.”
“I am not perfect. I won’t say every decision I take I am right. I am human and I may take decision that may not be palatable with everybody. I accept it and if it turns out to be bad, forgive me.”
“Let’s move forward for the interest of the state. That is important. I took the decision and you listened to me. I want you to also listen to me now. Let’s accept what Mr. President has said. It is for the interest of Rivers and for Nigeria in general.”
“It may not be the best, but there is no option. Mr. President took a lot of risk to give me minister of FCT. People protested, but he stood firm. If he could do that, you too should accept his decision.”
“When we came back from Abuja, within the next 48 hours, the Speaker and his people took the decision to obey Mr. President without attaching any condition. I thank Mr. Speaker and other members for respecting Mr. President.”
“Whether you are APC or PDP or you don’t belong to any of the parties, we owe a duty to give Mr. President support to move this country forward.”
“God used Dan Orbih to give us the structure of the party to run for the governorship election. God used him. And I will never in my life, it doesn’t matter the circumstances, deny him.”
“Why am I going this far? It is to let you know that I don’t abandon people who had stood for me. I may not do what you exactly want me to do, but I will never betray you”.
“Ask people why this matter came to this level. When people went and plotted the removal of the Speaker, you think we will fold our hands to remove speaker?”
“We will start with you first. You want to humiliate us to remove Speaker? They said I should go and talk to the assembly men and I said why. They said you brought them. But I said so, these ones will listen to me, but you you won’t listen.”
“They said chairmen of councils don’t respect anybody. But I said how, why won’t they respect anybody? People plotting evil and nobody wants to talk.”
“We must make impact on people lives. Whatever position you find yourself, make impact. Forget about these people who cannot face me to fight me. I consumed them before and I will continue to consume them. Show them the way. Follow man that knows the way”.