National Politics
Rivers Crisis Escalates: “We’ll Fight to the End”- Wike’s GDI Supports Fubara
Leaders of the Rivers State GrassRoots Development Initiative (GDI), which was started by former governor Nyesom Wike, have threatened to take legal action against the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Minister should he continue to meddle in state politics.
Following a meeting with Governor Siminalayi Fubara at the Government House, where he greeted the former members of GDI and the Coordinators Forum, the GDI leaders spoke in Port Harcourt on Monday.
They swore to support the Simplified Movement and the Rivers State Government with all of their hearts.
The Grassroots Development Initiative’s (GDI) former chairman, Hon. Collins Onuwo, spoke first. He stated, “Yes, two days ago, Coordinators of the Grassroots Development Initiative from Ogugbolo, Gokana, Agba-Egbema Ndoni, Borno, Akuku-Toru, Asari-Toru, Ahoada-East resigned to join three of their members who had earlier resigned.
Adding, “These members are Kinikawa Amada of Port Harcourt Local Government, Daddy Green of Ahoada-West, Elder Ogolo of Opobo-Nkoro LGA, and Agumuo Eze of Oyibo LGA. We want the public to know that the GDI is the movement, the association, the group founded by the immediate past Governor of Rivers State, Nyesom Wike. He founded that group.
“That group brought him to power. That group supported him for a second term. That group is his strength. Whoever he is today, it is because of the GDI. However, today, we have all collectively decided that we are no longer members of that group.
“The reason is that we want to stand with the people of Rivers. Rivers’ interest is paramount. When we started GDI in 2012 and 2013, we were told to stand for Rivers’ interest. What was Rivers’ interest then? We were told to ensure the protection of our brother-in-law, the President of Nigeria at that time, who happened to marry our beloved daughter, Patience Jonathan.
“That was Rivers’ interest then, and we all supported that interest, which led our chief, our leader, to become the Governor. In his second term, the interest was that people in Abuja said it should not happen, but Rivers’ interest demanded it.
“People died, blood was shed, those who survived did so with injuries, and those who were killed, may their souls rest in perfect peace. He won that election. We stood firm for Rivers State and the entire nation.
“Women came out to protest. Back then, women protesting naked was not considered an abomination. Today, what is Rivers’ interest? It is to ensure the protection of our votes that were brought in Siminalayi Fubara.
“The Supreme Court has affirmed that indeed, he won that election. It was the most peaceful election, devoid of bloodshed, accidents, or gunshots, and Fubara won in all the LGAs.
“This has never happened before… today, one man says that the election should not be held. We have joined millions of Rivers women, youths, and elders who insist on protecting our votes.
“We do not care who the Governor is. A fight against any youth in this state is a fight against the entire state. All the youths of Rivers State will stand against you. The fight against Edison Ehie, because he stood for the truth… all of us are willing to stand with Edison Ehie, even unto death.”
Peter Obi’s exit from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) had been coordinated by Nyesom Wike, the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), according to Paul Ibe, the spokesperson for PDP presidential candidate Atiku Abubakar in 2023.
Ibe stated that Wike resisted Atiku’s request for the PDP to allocate the Southeast as the 2023 presidential ticket zone.
Prior to the 2023 presidential election, Obi left the PDP to run for president as the Labour Party, LP. Obi had been the party’s vice presidential nominee in the 2019 presidential contest.
With more than six million votes, he later emerged as a formidable candidate in the most recent general election.
The main opposition party has not yet managed to address its internal crisis since the PDP and LP were defeated by the All Progressives Congress, or APC, in the 2023 election.
Atiku, according to Ibe, was prepared to assign the Southeast the PDP presidential ticket.
Ibe claimed that Wike was upset by the decision to zone PDP’s ticket to the Southeast in an interview with Seun Okinbaloye for his Mic On program.
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He said: “Atiku did not force Peter Obi out of the party, Wike was instrumental in the exit of Obi because Wike had promoted the zoning of the presidency to the south.
“Atiku Abubakar had said that he was prepared to get himself off the ticket if the party zoned the ticket to the Southeast.
“Wike frustrated that effort because he believed that if it was zoned to the south, not the southeast, he would be in the best position to be able to get the ticket.”
On Saturday, Prince Uche Secondus, a former National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), blamed the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Minister Nyesom Wike’s self-serving pursuit of interests for the ongoing political unrest in Rivers State.
Speaking to reporters in Abuja, Secondus claimed that Governor Siminalaye Fubura’s political issues were primarily the result of the FCT Minister.
He claimed that the outgoing governor caused suffering, loss, and agony to the state, emphasizing that the Minister has not been able to bring any federal projects to Rivers.
Secondus claims that when Fubara chose to stop the state’s theft, he and his estranged godfather had a falling out.
He clarified that those who want unrestricted access to the state’s finances—a request he said the governor has rejected—are the ones behind the current political turmoil destabilizing the state.
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Secondus said, “Wike has been Governor for eight years and is now Minister of the FCT.
“As Minister, what has he, Wike, attracted in terms of Federal projects to our dear State since he assumed office?
“Perhaps misery, grief, and anguish. As governor he supervised the exit of investors from the state due to his draconian policies.
“He had on an occasion mentioned that he is capable of causing a crisis and he is not far from the truth, as he is causing an unfathomable crisis in Rivers State.
“Mrs Patience Jonathan and I worked for his emergence as governor, have we ever breathed down his neck? Instead, what we get is disrespect and insults.
“I call on President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, to prevail on the FCT Minister, Nyesom Wike to stop overheating the Rivers State political atmosphere and allow Fubara to work. Whatever Wike thinks he is, it must be stressed that Rivers people made him.”
Prof. Iorwuese Hagher, a former Nigerian ambassador to Mexico and Canada, has officially left the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and joined the All Progressives Congress (APC).
Orduuga Tyokegh, the APC Ward Chairman, registered Hagher on Friday in his Utange Ward in the Katsina-Ala Local Government Area.
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Speaking upon his APC membership registration, he stated, “I have found rest, I am not in APC to look for a job, I have joined the APC to help, I am here to assist my friend Sen. Dr. George Akume who is the first Tiv man to be SGF and he is also the leader of the APC.
“All politics is local and the Shitile people where I come from have always voted for APC therefore I have decided to join them.”
According to speculation, Hagher relocated to Abuja later on Friday and visited Elder Simon Shango, the chairman of the Benue State APC Elders Council, in his office to give him his APC registration slip.
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