The Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, has thrown shades at the Rivers State Governor, Siminialayi Fubara, and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
Akpabio, who was the special guest of honour at the public lecture and book launch organised to mark the birthday of the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja, Nyesom Wike, in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, on Friday, mocked Fubara’s handling of the ongoing political crisis in the state.
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 large event centre used for the occasion was congested and had spillovers of guests and residents at the surroundings and on the streets of the popular Sani Abacha Road in GRA.
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 how independently powerful the legislature is.
He said every wise governor or the President like President Bola Ahmed Tinubu must fashion a way to hold the leadership of the legislature closely.
Akpabio said he realised as a governor in Akwa Ibom State that a governor could only be hurt by the House of Assembly and fashioned out ways to work with the Speaker during his tenure.
He said: “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.
“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 launch 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. He muscled the two Chambers together”.
Akpabio, who also launched a book on Wike, wondered why despite all resources at the disposal of Fubara, he had not been able to poach some of the 27 lawmakers in the camp of Wike.
The former Governor of Akwa Ibom State said people must rise to condemn politics of betrayal and treachery noting that such political orientation was affecting sustainability in governance.
He said despite all the insights contained in the lecture delivered at the occasion by the Guest Lecturer and Majority Leader of the House of Representatives, Prof. Julius Ihonvbere, he did not address the critical issue of sustainability.
He said: “I do not know what is happening in Rivers State but I hope that the successor to 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 resource 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, 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 eventually lift them higher.
Turning to Wike, he said he did not become the FCT Minister by chance, but that the position came because of the hard work he put in when he was the governor of Rivers.
Akpabio said nobody with his senses intact would sustain a quarrel with Wike, describing him as a man with a forgiving spirit.
“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 there 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 had forgotten that we quarreled and I will tell him, after the quarrel”, he said.
Akpabio, whose remarks intermittently drew laughters from the audience, said the multitude of people at the occasion came to honour the quality of life that Wike had led.
The Senate President appraised the giant strides of Wike in Abuja and referred to him as a miracle worker and a jewel.
He said the Minister had transformed Abuja, building roads to different parts of the capital city, where people initially thought such infrastructures were not possible.
Akpabio, who was accompanied to the event by many senators read their collective tributes to the Minister.
Addressing Wike, he said: “Born in tumultuous year of 1967 when the fabrics 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 appreciate you and Southsouth appreciate you.
“The President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, President Bola Tinubu, appreciates your work, the Government of APC appreciate you”.
Throwing some shades at the PDP, Akpabio said 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 have 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 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”.
I am not bothered about criticism, says Wike
On his part, who appreciated the NEW Associates and Chairman of the Organizing Committee, Senator George Sekibo, for putting the event together, said he was not bothered about the ongoing criticisms of a few people.
He said: “For me, in life, what is important is, if you know what you want to do, and you know how you want to do it, then you go ahead. One thing that I can assure all of you here is that we will continue to make you proud.
“I will never be distracted. I will still be focused to achieve the results that Nigerians will know that Mr President means well. Yes, so many people have talked about criticism, I can assure you, it is even people who inform me that people are criticising me. Frankly speaking, because I do not see them and I don’t hear them and I can not reply them”.
Wike, who said he was humbled by the crowd that identified with him, said he was satisfied with the support of President Tinubu.
He said all the criticisms were designed by his detractors to distract him adding that the only way to silence the critics was to achieve results for public interest.
He said: “I have told most of you, do not bother about criticisms, what is important for you is to ask yourself if you are focused or you are doing what is expected of you to do. I tell them, the moment your enemies see that you do not listen to them and you are focused and are there to achieve results they will be tired and when you are being distracted, you are worried they will say yes, they have now gotten you.
“The only way that you can silence your critics, is to show them your result. Show them your performance. I am happy that when we were coming last night I saw the flyovers being painted, I said thank God, so there was work that they are now painting? I said Thank God there was work that is being painted now. I have said, if you are not important nobody will talk about you.
“So, 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. If you cannot match up with what we have done, why not come out and say look, let the truth be told.
“I do not see anybody that will intimidate or threaten me. I have not seen that person. At the appropriate time we will talk politics now is for project and project in FCT”.
We are standing by you, PDP tells Wike
Speaking at the event, the national leadership of the PDP represented by the Deputy National Chairman, South, Taofeek Arapaja, said despite the antics of persons in the party with entitlement mentality majority of the people in PDP loved and appreciated the Minister.
He said the members of the party stood with Wike describing the minister as one of the most committed and most loyal party leaders ever produced in PDP.
He said: “Our mentor and principal that we are celebrating today who has never left PDP for a day is one of the most committed, most loyal party leaders we have ever had. He has done well and he is doing well and we wish him well in future endeavors.
“He is somebody, who believes in equity, justice and fairness. Remember before the 2023 election he sang a famous song. I used to follow my leader and Osun State Governor Seyi Makinde. Our leader, I still remember the G5 and I am telling you that many people in PDP appreciate you. We love you because you are always there for us not only when you need anything unlike some leaders who come running to us when they need something.
“We know you and we always love you and we appreciate you. Some people believe in entitlement mentality we will always stand by you because you led the G5. You are a man of integrity, a man of honour and you you are a performer”.
Arapaja, however,.disagreed with some of the remarks of Akpabio against PDP and wondered why the Senate President whom he described as a product of the PDP could attack his party of origin.
He said: “The foundation of all political party is the PDP. So I am surprised when someone, who is a product of the PDP will come here and say those things. I do not understand. But that is not politics, nobody can dispute the fact that the present Senate President was a governor of Akwa-lbom State under the PDP and he performed”.
The Guest Lecturer, Ihonvbere, highlighted the problems of the country as insecurity, unemployment, poor infrastructure, corruption, religious,.ethnic factor as well as poor educational facilities and said fixing them was not a rocket science.
“Our problems can be solved. The Nigerians ruling class in fraction will be ashamed that it has not managed any of our problems successfully. We have created millions and billions but their legacies are hardly sustained. It is not lack of resources but management. Fixing Nigeria is not rocket science. It requires focus and staying the cause”, he said.
The Chairman of the occasion and former President, Nigeria Bar Association (NBA), OCJ Okocha, described Wike a superlative performer with a Midas touch.
“This is a man that we have given to Nigeria and we are proud to be his friends and associates. I want to thank us all for organising this public lecture in his honour. Knowing him, he would have opposed it, but I think the pressure on him was too much that his friends won the day and said let us honour you”, he said.
