The Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Minister and former Rivers State governor, Nyesom Wike, has justified his recent contentious remarks by emphasizing that he never threatened to incite trouble in the states of Bauchi or Oyo. In an interview with Channels Television, Wike maintained that his words were being misunderstood and that they were meant to shield Rivers, his home state, from illegal intervention by other governors.CONTINUE FULL READING>>>>>
Wike, who has been at the center of several political storms, addressed claims that he was inciting violence in states led by governors who had opposed his stance within the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). He categorically denied any suggestion that he intended to create chaos in Bauchi or Oyo.
“How can I regret? I didn’t make any bad statement,” Wike said during the interview. “It’s like saying you want to cause crisis in my political system in my state. You too will have crisis in your states. I never said that Bauchi State will be on fire. I never said Oyo State will be on fire. What’s my business?”
Wike’s comments come in response to criticisms that he had threatened instability in other states after accusing fellow PDP governors of trying to interfere in the political process in Rivers State. According to Wike, his primary concern was protecting his state’s political integrity from unconstitutional and illegitimate interference, which he claims was driven by certain governors’ positions of power.
“All I’m saying is you don’t want my state to be politically stable. You want to illegally, unconstitutionally interfere in a legitimate process, a legal process that was going on, and you want me to fold my arms because you are the governor or because you are the chairman of the Governors’ Forum?” Wike questioned. “People took forms, people have been elected, and now you’ll use your position to say to the NWC [National Working Committee] or NEC [National Executive Committee], ‘Cancel it, we are governors.’”
Wike firmly rejected the notion that his comments were meant to incite violence, instead emphasizing that he was warning those who might seek to destabilize Rivers State politically. “Who told you I don’t have the capacity to say you too in your states, that crisis will be there? I’m not talking about going to burn Bauchi or Oyo State,” Wike clarified.CONTINUE FULL READING>>>>>
