Senate President Godswill Akpabio yesterday faulted Rivers State Governor Siminialayi Fubara on his handling of the political crisis in the state, which has pitted him against Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Minister Nyesom Wike, the Speaker and the majority of the members of the State House of Assembly as well as many stakeholders of his own party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
Akpabio, a former governor of Akwa Ibom State, said a wise governor or President must forge a close relationship with the legislature.
The Senate President spoke as Special Guest of Honour at a Public Lecture and Book Launch held in Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital to mark the FCT Minister’s 57th birthday.
Wike himself said criticism from his political opponents meant nothing to him as “the support Mr President is giving to me is enough for me.”
“I do not require anything. The moment I know that my Mr. President is happy, the moment I know that my family is happy, the moment I know that my friends and associates are happy, what is my own? I just go on,” he told the audience that spilled from the hall onto the popular Sani Abacha Road and adjoining streets in the Government Reservation Area.
The lecture entitled Pragmatic Strides of a Visionary Leader and Contemporary Issues of Society, attracted thousands of Wike’s loyalists, friends and associates from different parts of the country and various walks of life.
The event was organised by the NEW Associates, a new political movement coined from the initials of the minister’s names, Nyesom Ezenwo Wike.
Akpabio, who recognised Martins Amaewhule at the event as the Speaker of the Rivers State House of Assembly, reminded Fubara of the power of the legislative arm.
Amaewhule leads the 27 state legislators loyal to Wike.
Akpabio said he realised as governor between 2007 and 2015 that in a duel between the governor and the legislative arm, the governor could be hurt by the other side, hence he had to fashion out ways to work with the Speaker during his tenure.
“For those of you who may not understand politics, we were taught that the parliament can turn a woman into a man and a man into a woman. As a governor, my greatest fear was my House of Assembly,” he said.
“So because of that I never travelled anywhere without my Speaker. Any time I didn’t see him for a day, I would send somebody to his house to invite him to come and have a lunch with me, and I used ideas to look at his face to know whether he was happy with me or not.
“The only place that can hurt a governor is the House of Assembly, and no court or democracy can stop that from happening. Any President that wants to survive like Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu must hold the Speaker and the Senate President very closely the way he is holding us.
“Recently he conferred on us GCON, Grand Commander of the Order of the Niger. Whether he loved it or not, he did it.”
Akpabio wondered why, despite all the resources at the disposal of Fubara, he had not been able to woo some of the 27 lawmakers in the camp of Wike.
He deplored what he called politics of betrayal and treachery, saying such trend was affecting sustainability in governance.
His words: “I do not know what is happening in Rivers State, but I hope that the successor of Wike realises the fact that no matter how the bird flies, the legs are pointing to the ground.
“Something must be wrong. Today is not for politics. Today is for Nyesom Wike.
“But sometimes I wonder, I would never be the governor, given the resources of Rivers State, and then I disagree with my House of Assembly and I am not able to poach at least one member out of the other group.
“If I do not do that, it means that there is something wrong with my political philosophy.
“I do not care what people say. We must try to stop this politics of betrayal and politics of treachery, because it does not allow for good succession.
“Prof Julius Ihonvbere (Guest Lecturer and Majority Leader of the House of Representatives) in everything you said here, the word that was missing was ‘sustainability’.
“You cannot have sustainability in good policies and governance when the person taking over from you is interested in not destroying you alone but destroying everything that you built.
“If you are a politician, note, you must have opposition as people oppose you, they are also the step you can use to go higher.”
Akpabio, however, said when politicians served with dedication, passion, confidence and with open heart, God would lift them higher.
Turning to Wike, he said he did not become the FCT Minister by chance but that the position came because of his hard work as governor of Rivers State.
Continuing, he said: “I was discussing with one of my colleagues and I told him I do not know why a man will quarrel with Wike; if he shouts while we are sitting here, by the time I get to that door he has forgotten.
“He will be the one to carry his phone and call me and say ‘when are you coming to the house for lunch?’ And he has forgotten that we quarreled and I will tell him, after the quarrel?”
Akpabio, whose remarks drew intermittent laughter from the audience, said the multitude of people at the occasion was a testimony to the quality of life that Wike lives.
Citing the Minister’s performance in the FCT, the Senate President said Wike has transformed the federal capital by building roads in different parts of the city where such were never thought possible before.
He added: “Born in tumultuous year of 1967 when the fabric of our nation was being tested in conflict, you emerged, not in the safety of calm waters but amidst the storm itself when Nigeria was just beginning the war.
“The war entered inside you, the war of transformation, the war of infrastructural renaissance and the war of love for Rivers State.
“If the Rivers people do not appreciate you, please begin to love Akwa-lbom State. We appreciate you. Niger Delta appreciates you and South-South appreciates you.
“The President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, President Bola Tinubu, appreciates your work. The Government of APC appreciates you.”
He then mocked the PDP, saying only a progressive party like the APC would honour the likes of Wike.
“The truth is that in PDP, you do not deserve a man like Wike. That is why we are all waiting to grab him so you people can continue with those who would continue to betray,” he said.
Turning to Wike, he said: “You might have chosen to arrive at a calm period but instead you came forth when Nigeria was at war.
“It is perhaps this very fortitude that has shaped your character and had allowed you rise like an eagle, soaring high above the tempest that could defeat you.
“Your dedication to lifting communities as a governor, now as a minister, has left indelible marks on our nation’s history.
“The bridges you have constructed stand as testament to your commitment to progress and unity.
I recognised the fire within you long before when you became local government chairman of Obio-Akpor. You are indeed a great secret waiting to be unveiled; waiting for the nation to behold.
“Your contributions to the political landscape of Nigeria, especially during your days as governor, shine like a beacon of hope. Many will now say that you have done better now as minister that when you were a governor.
“As a leader of uncompromising integrity, speaking truth in every facet of life, even to higher authority, circumstances will not allow me to say all I would want to say. But one of them is ‘agreement is agreement’.
“You remind us that politics is not only about policies procedures but also about the people, about laughter, about comradeship, about remembering your friends but not forgetting your enemies and the shared joy of community and communal living.
“May this birthday, my brother, bring you as much joy as you have bestowed on many others and may you embrace even more adventures in service to our beloved country.”