Says Atiku lacks integrity
Dismisses PDP’s prospect in 2027
Claims Fubara’s annual N300m grants behind NBA’s outcry
Fayose: I’ll work against Atiku again if he runs for president
Says coalition against Tinubu, dead on arrival
Claims Makinde rejected being pitched against Tinubu
Asserts governors declaring support for Tinubu doing so for self-preservation
By Our Reporters
Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, yesterday disclosed that he preferred the “outright removal” of suspended Rivers State Governor, Siminalayi Fubara, rather than the declaration of a state of emergency by President Bola Tinubu.
Wike made the revelation during a live media parley in Abuja, where he also took aim at the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), saying the party is unprepared to challenge the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the 2027 general elections.
The former Rivers State governor also took aim at ex-Vice President Atiku Abubakar, branding him as deceitful. Similarly, he criticised the Nigerian Bar Association for condemning the state of emergency declaration in Rivers State, claiming the association’s stance was influenced by the annual grants it receives from the state government.
Meanwhile, former Ekiti State governor Ayo Fayose has also weighed in, stating that he would oppose Atiku should the former vice-president run for president again. He added that any coalition against President Tinubu would fail to gain traction. Fayose further asserted that Governor Makinde would refuse to be used as a tool against Tinubu.
Addressing journalists, Wike voiced his displeasure over last month’s state of emergency declaration in Rivers State by President Tinubu.
The president had justified the move—which included the six-month suspension of Governor Fubara, Deputy Governor Ngozi Odu, and Rivers State House of Assembly members—citing escalating political unrest, security threats, and recent pipeline explosions.
“As a politician, I am not happy with the state of emergency,” Wike said. “I wanted the outright removal of Governor Fubara. The president, by declaring a state of emergency, saved Fubara.”
He added that the decision, though not his preferred outcome, was necessary to prevent a complete breakdown of law and order in the state. “But for the interest of the state, the president did the right thing to prevent anarchy,” he noted.
The President appointed retired Vice-Admiral Ibok-Ete Ibas as sole administrator to oversee state affairs for an initial six-month period – a decision that has provoked intense debate across political and civil society sectors.
Wike, who has been locked in a bitter feud with Fubara since the governor took office, claimed Fubara had made no attempt to initiate reconciliation or resolve their differences.
“Has he ever called me as an elder to say what is the problem? Let us sit down and talk?” Wike asked. “If I am the cause of the problem… has anybody taken it upon himself or herself to say, ‘this is where we are?’”
He argued that the political crisis, which has already led to the emergence of factional speakers and a parallel assembly in Rivers State, could have been avoided if certain truths were acknowledged.
“The matter is in court but people must say the truth. The governor was gone. It is not in my place to make it good for the governor. As a politician, my business is not to make him comfortable and that is why there is power plane.”
Turning to national politics, the FCT during the interview again, took a fresh swipes at former Vice President Atiku, describing him as a politician who cannot be trusted and who consistently breaks his promises.
Wike, who fiercely opposed Atiku’s presidential ambition in the 2023 general election, said his decision was based not just on the principle of power rotation but also on Atiku’s alleged dishonesty.
“I wanted power rotation, I could not have imagined that after eight years of Buhari, power goes to north again,” Wike said.
I wanted power rotation, I could not have imagined that after eight years of Buhari, power goes to north again,” Wike said.
It is not about whether you chose to field me or not, it’s about principle. To take that decision was difficult and a decision has to be taken, and I looked at it, Atiku was not an option, so, he is a no-go area.
”When asked if he turned against Atiku after being dropped as his running mate, Wike responded: “He never dropped me as his running mate because he picked me.
According to Wike, he claimed he had always known Atiku lacked integrity and shared this belief with his political allies.“Let me tell you from day one, I told my delegates when they came that one thing you must know is that Atiku does not keep to his words,” he said.
Wike recalled a failed agreement from 2019 involving Atiku, former Senate President Bukola Saraki, and ex-PDP National Chairman Uche Secondus. He said they had promised him the opportunity to nominate key officials if Atiku won the presidency.
“I can tell you authoritatively what happened. In 2019, Atiku, Saraki and Secondus came to see me that I was going to nominate the attorney general and minister of petroleum. When we lost the election, the man who was supposed to bring the attorney general did not know when the legal team was constituted, and I laughed; I watched it on television, and I now called Saraki; you people have constituted a legal team, and you said I was going to bring attorney general.”
He concluded: “I know from day one that Atiku will never keep to his words and I’ve never banked on that. I will not take his words to the bank.”
On his party, PDP, Wike used the occasion to question the PDP’s readiness for the 2027 elections, dismissing the party’s current preparations as superficial and lacking coherent strategy.**
“The PDP is not ready for the 2027 election. It is very obvious,” he said. “For instance, I have an examination and I am going to class to read. Indeed, am I reading? Am I studying? You don’t need to deceive anybody that you are reading. You are only trying to read so that people will see that you have carried your bag to class.”
He added that internal power struggles have weakened the PDP’s ability to function as a strong opposition party. “That is the situation of the PDP. So, they cannot say for sure that they are ready for 2027. Power struggle cannot help the party,” he warned.
In related development, Wike, has accused the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) of taking a biased stance on the call for emergency rule in Rivers State, alleging the association benefited from an unappropriated N300 million “gift” from the state government.
Wike claimed the NBA’s opposition to the proposed emergency rule was influenced by the financial donation it received, which he described as illegal and outside the state’s approved budget.
According to Wike, during his tenure as Governor,, similar donations were always properly appropriated under a line item labeled “grant” in the budget.
When asked directly if he believed the NBA’s criticism stemmed from the N300 million donation, Wike replied, “Of course, are you not aware? Everybody has seen it.”
He further claimed the transaction would have remained hidden from public scrutiny if not for the recent fallout between the NBA and the Rivers State government under the sole administrator.
He said: “It is unfortunate. The president declared a state of emergency, they said it is unconstitutional, until everybody knew why they said that — the state gave them a gift of N300 million.
“A gift that was not appropriated. There is no appropriation. The NBA took an illegal gift.
“Assuming all these issues did not come out, did you know they took gift?”
Meanwhile, former governor of Ekiti state, Ayo Fayose, has disclosed that the 2023 presidential candidate under the Peoples Democratic Party, Atiku Abubakar, will not receive his support if he decides to run in 2027.
Fayose made the assertion on Friday during an interview on Channels TV’s Politics Today.
”I publicly worked against Atiku, and I am saying for the second time, if Atiku comes again, I will work against him. It is time to learn our lesson,” Fayose said.
According to the former governor, the crisis in the party reared its head when the decision to zone power to the North was agreed upon by the leaders.
”After eight years of a Northerner, it is the turn of a Southerner. which could involve someone from the East, South West or South South.”
”Those who gave or zoned power back to the North caused all these problems.”
”You don’t have to like a Nyesom Wike or a Peter Obi, but there should be an unwritten, respected gentleman’s understanding of powershift,” he said.
Fayose, back in 2024, openly declared that he publicly worked against Atiku, adding that his decision was for the good of the country
“Don’t get it wrong. I worked against him (Atiku) 100 per cent. Nigeria is bigger than the PDP, APC.”
Fayose, however, conceded that for party supremacy to thrive in the PDP, it needs to show levels of accountability and avoid abuse and breach of zoning agreements.
”The party must be equitable, the party must be accountable. The party or parent that is irresponsible will produce irresponsible children, they will produce rebellion, they will produce anger.”
”After Asiwaju’s(Bola Tinubu) tenure, if God gives him a chance at a second term. Let a Southerner come out, we as leaders at that time, I will be over 70 or about 70, I will come out straight that a Southerner can not be the President of Nigeria.”
In related development, Fayose has dismissed the widely discussed coalition of opposition political parties aimed at unseating President Bola Tinubu and the All Progressives Congress (APC) in 2027, describing it as a waste of time.
“Their coalition is a dead horse ab initio. Tell me one positive person, well respected Nigerians that has given his voice in support of this coalition,” Fayose said on the programme.
Former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar, who was PDP’s presidential candidate in 2023 and former Kaduna State governor, Nasir El-Rufai, who recently decamped to the Social Democratic Party (SDP) from the APC are spearheading the coalition.
But the former Ekiti State governor believes that the coalition will fail because the governors of the PDP are not with Atiku, as they are fighting for their own political survival.
“If anybody is fighting out of issues with his party, he can resolve that with his party. The (PDP) governors’ actions and statement in Ibadan is to tell Atiku that we are not with you, we are going nowhere, we have our own identity.
“So, that coalition is just in the imagination of people trying to bring it to fruition. So, let me say to you, it’s a waste of time,” he said.
He said that in fact, most of the opposition governors prefer Tinubu for their survival to Atiku.
On rumours about Makinde plans to run for president Fayose said: “When I saw an advert running on social media, with all due respect to Makinde, I forwarded it to him, and he called me to say he’s not running and does not know anything about those fliers. He has not told me otherwise.
“I will not put words in his mouth; I will believe whatever he told me as a brother. He told me that he will not be used against a Yoruba man as president.
“I stand here to say Makinde will not run for president, except if anything changes.
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