Ex-Commissioner Warns Fubara’s APC Defection May Weaken Wike’s Control in Rivers

According to Austin Tam-George, a former Rivers State Commissioner for Information and Communication, Governor Siminalayi Fubara’s defection to the All Progressives Congress (APC) changed the state’s political landscape by reducing the power of the group that supported Federal Capital Territory Minister Nyesom Wike.

The previous three weeks have seen a shift in the state’s political calculations, according to Tam-George, who also noted that Wike and his supporters were uneasy about the development.

Speaking on Arise Television’s Prime Time, the former commissioner explained that this was the reason Wike had visited a number of the state’s local government districts in recent weeks.

He claimed that the governor’s defection reduced the Wike camp’s power over the Rivers State Government and compelled them to look for fresh means of regaining control.

But he cautioned that the state and its citizens will eventually suffer from the protracted political unrest and instability brought on by the contest.

“The political calculation in Rivers State has changed due to Governor Siminalayi Fubara’s move to the APC in the last 21 days,” Tam-George stated.

“You know, over the last two weeks or so, FCT Minister Nyesom Wike has been moving from one local government area to another, threatening the Rivers State government, and at one point insulting the APC’s leadership structures.”

He went so far as to accuse the Tinubu administration and a few high-ranking officials of traveling to Rivers State specifically to solicit bribes or cash from the state government.

“So, what I believe is happening is that the governor’s defection has clearly put the Wike camp’s initial leverage over the governor in jeopardy, and they are looking for a way to assert what they perceive to be a threat to their leverage.”

“But the regrettable thing is that this kind of instability ultimately affects the state.”