National Secretary of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Mr Ajibola Basiru, has challenged Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Mr Nyesom Wike, to resign from President Bola Tinubu’s cabinet if he intends to continue his strong involvement in Rivers State politics.
He asked the minister to tread carefully as he may be overplaying his political card. Mr Basiru said Wike’s frequent statements and threats over political developments in Rivers State were unbecoming of a serving minister, especially one who was not a member of the APC.
His reaction followed a warning issued by Wike to APC leaders on Monday, cautioning them against ‘undue interference’ in Rivers State politics and hinting that some were motivated by the state’s financial resources.
“Let me warn those who come to Rivers State because you have heard that we have N600 billion. Take this message to your National Secretary, leave Rivers State alone,” Wike said, noting that anyone who ignored the warning would bear the consequences, Economy Post earlier reported.
“Ask other people what has happened to them. That’s how they were pushing the young man (Gov Sim Fubara), but when trouble started they all ran away,” Mr Wike threatened, urging the Osun State-born scribe to concentrate on his state.
“Allow us to play our game. Don’t get involved,” he warned Mr Basiru, accusing him of commenting on Rivers issues while benefiting politically in Osun State, saying, “Anything you see, take. This state is a no-go area.”
But in his reaction, Mr Basiru said in a statement entitled, ‘Nyesom Wike Should Immediately Resign as Minister and Face His Obsession with Rivers Politics’ that Mr Wike’s remarks was a tirade unworthy of a Federal Executive Council (FEC) member.
He insisted that his earlier position, bordering on sitting governors being accorded respect as leaders of the party in their states, was harmless and did not warrant Mr Wike’s ‘uncouth response.’
Mr Basiru maintained that Wike had no standing in APC matters. “For the avoidance of doubt, our records indicate that Minister Nyesom Wike is not a member of our party (APC), so he lacks the locus to dabble into the affairs of our party,” he said.
He added that as national secretary, his duty was to defend and organise the party across the country, not just in Osun State.
Mr Basiru dismissed Wike’s allegation that APC leaders were scrambling for a supposed N600 billion largesse in Rivers State, calling it ‘cheap blackmail,’ and said his integrity was unquestionable.
He warned that he would not be intimidated by veiled threats. “Let me remind Wike that he is not God and may be overplaying his political card… I will not succumb to cheap threats,” he said.
Basiru further argued that supporting President Tinubu did not automatically make Wike an APC member, noting that millions of non-APC Nigerians also supported the president.
He warned against importing the internal political culture of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) into the APC, insisting that Wike could not remain in an APC-led Federal Executive Council (FEC) while allegedly destabilising the party.
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“The honourable thing to do is to resign his appointment as minister,” Basiru added.
Wike and Fubara fight
Governor Sim Fubara and the FCT Minister are locked in a war of supremacy, with the former referring himself as ‘the 001’ and latter boasting that his arch foe will not have his second term.
On Saturday, while addressing stakeholders at a meeting in Okrika Local Government Area of Rivers State, Mr Wike said he would be buried politically if Governor Fubara should secure a second term.
“We have made a decision as far as Tinubu is concerned. The other one (Fubara’s re-election), no way. Because if we make another mistake, then we will go and bury ourselves politically. I will not allow myself to be buried. I will not allow that mistake again,” he said.
