Politics

I made a mistake with Fubara, Wike slams Governor’s camp

Published

1 year ago

May 12, 2024

The Minister of the Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, has said backing Governor Siminalayi Fubara was a mistake he would correct at the appropriate time.

The FCT Minister insisted he made mistakes in his judgement of Fubara and asked the people of the LGA and political family to forgive him.

He said at the appropriate time they would correct the mistake insisting that he would continue to make his detractors angry so they would keep making mistakes.

Wike said: ” I want to say this clearly, in life we have made a mistake. I have made a mistake. I own it up and I say God forgive me. I have said all of you forgive me. But we will correct it at the appropriate time. I am a human, I am bound to make a mistake. So forgive me for making a wrong judgement. So nobody should kill”.

He also responded to some developments and actions from the camp of Rivers Governor Siminalayi Fubara, on the ongoing political crisis in the State.

Wike spoke on Saturday at the grand Civic reception held at Ogu-Bolo in honour of Chief George Thompson Sekibo to celebrate his 20 years of service at the National and 36 years of his life in public service.

The former Rivers Governor told Fubara’s camp that no injunctions obtained at 2am or 4am would stop the law and due process from taking its course in the state.

“If they like they can go to anybody by 2am or 4am to get injunction. The law will take its course. We must follow due process,” Wike said.

Reacting to Fubara’s remarks that he would not worship anybody, Wike said he had never asked anybody to worship him.

He said: “It is not easy to be a public officer and the people decide to honour you. Let me thank the Ogu council of chiefs and the entire community who insisted that their son should be honoured.

“You have refused politics to divide you. It shows that you have the interest of your community in mind. I came because I respect people, who appreciate what God has used people to do for them.

“God uses people to help others. So when you have been helped, you appreciate them. God will know you have appreciated him. Nobody can worship man. All of us believe that it is only God we will worship.

“As politicians we appreciate people who have helped us. When I came to ask you to support me, you supported me. Did I worship you? Did I ask you to worship me. If you had not supported me, I would not have been where I am. Did you tell me to worship you? So where does the issue of worship come from?”

Most political associates of Wike such as Senator Magnus Abe; Managing Director, Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) Dr. Samuel Ogbuku; NDDC Director, Finance and Administration, Boma Iyayi, House of Assembly members, local government chairmen, senators among others attended the event

Wike told the lawmakers not to be afraid saying nobody would remove them as assembly members.

*Don’t be afraid nobody will remove you as a lawmaker. Most of you don’t understand. This is our work. Our business is to make them to fear. That is what I am doing. We will make them to be angry everyday and they will continue to make mistakes”.

The former Governor said he would continue to maintain peace in the state and called on his supporters to pursue peace.

He said: “So don’t worry yourselves. We won’t give money to anybody to go and buy arms to kill anybody. I have maintained peace and I want to beg all you to continue to maintain peace. Nobody will tell me that I can’t live in my house or go to my house. But all of you should maintain the peace. Follow law and sue process..we will get to the end

“As you see me I stand straight. I think well. I came with senator Magnus Abe. I work with people that have brains. On politics, when people with brains agree they disagree. Those, who don’t know what to do but said they would bring me down, who born them? They are nowhere. When you are in charge, you are in charge.

“Everything will calm down. All these people running around, they would come down. Boma worked for his appointment, he showed loyalty and commitment and that is why God placed him there. Don’t worry.

“Let me also advised you, forget about how they abuse us. You must be alive for people to abuse you. If you are dead, will they abuse you? At the appropriate time when the results will be announced, we will know who is who. We have defeated them severally.

“Some.of them ran to Abuja but when I went to Abuja, they ran back here. Have you not seen the way Abuja is moving? No amount of propaganda can help you. Ogu people have shown loyalty and I want to thank you”.

Reflecting on his political journey, Wike said: “In 2014 to 2015, we didn’t have anybody. I came here and you said you would work for it and you worked for it. We had nobody in government. Did we not win? What are you afraid of?

“While in a government I had a problem, I had a federal government that was hostile to me, did we not succeed? They are giving excuses. If you know you. When somebody cannot do something, say you cannot do it.

“At the appropriate time, people will speak of the projects in the state. They will tell you who did what. It is not people who come now and claim what they didn’t do. Ogu continue to support your people, your politicians have done well. Sekibo has done well.

“Don’t mind these buccaneers, I know how to handle them. Leave them for me..they have been my children. I will continue to handle them. Let’s work together”.

The former governor added: ” It is not easy to be in power and begin to give excuses. You continue to run away from promises you made to people. Look at all the council chairmen, the assembly members, these were people I spoke to for the interest of all of us.

“They all responded but today somebody said they are nobody. Will you accept that? Assembly people sat down in their various constituencies. You never brought a dime. I never knew you were rich that your father was a managing director of shell before and now you are paying their school fees. It is unfortunate.

“But Ogu people I will never abandon you. There are some chiefs I wanted to recognise as traditional rulers. Their people said no. But I dared it and I did it. Nobody bothered to recognise the traditional rulers from 1999 down to 2014. It was me that came and recognize most of them. I did what I did because it believed it was the right thing to do. It takes he who has the balls to talk.

“Now you said you are making them first class. Who made them second class and third class before you are making him first class? Be grateful to whatever God has given to you. Anywhere you are as a traditional ruler, check your conscience, who lifted you up. They said the list of caretaker committee was released but it was fake. Everything is fake with them”.

Politics

Expose June 12 conspirators or face legal action – SERAP to Tinubu

Published

20 hours ago

June 16, 2025

Ekwutos Blog

The Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project, SERAP, has urged President Bola Tinubu to back up his Democracy Day rhetoric with defensive action by addressing the lingering injustices in Nigeria’s democratic history, especially, the landmark June 12, 1993 presidential election.

This was disclosed in a statement issued on Saturday, signed by the group’s Deputy Director Kolawole Oluwadare.

SERAP urged President Tinubu to set up a presidential panel of inquiry to investigate the annulment of the election on June 12 and uncover those who are behind what is described as the “deliberate violations of Nigerians democratic freedoms.”

The organization stated that not minding the political position of individuals found responsible, they should be brought to justice through Lateef Fagbemi, SAN, the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice.

SERAP also urged the president to instruct Fagbemi to urgently draft and present an executive bill to the National Assembly seeking to amend the Electoral Act 2022, specifically to make the electronic transmission of election results mandatory and grant all voters access to election documents.

The group argued that this would enhance electoral transparency, prevent manipulation, and help restore public confidence in Nigeria’s electoral process.

The organisation called on the president to immediately halt all prosecutions and drop charges against Nigerians currently detained or facing trial simply for exercising their rights to peaceful protest and free expression.

“Your Democracy Day speech conveyed a commitment to freedom, transparent and accountable governance, and social justice,” the letter stated.

“However, such commitments will ring hollow unless your government takes concrete action to end impunity for past violations, enforce electoral reforms, and guarantee democratic freedoms.”

SERAP emphasised that there is no statute of limitations on violations of democratic rights, and that achieving the ideals of June 12 is impossible without accountability and systemic reforms.

It warned that the failure to prosecute those responsible for the June 12 annulment has entrenched a culture of impunity, encouraging continued subversion of elections and political rights in Nigeria.

“Amending the Electoral Act to mandate electronic transmission of results and ensuring open access to electoral documents are essential to delivering credible elections,” the group stated. “It will also allow voters to verify the integrity of electoral outcomes.”

The organisation also demanded a review of laws undermining freedom of expression.

It asked the president to push for the repeal or amendment of repressive statutes, including the Cybercrimes Act and criminal defamation and falsehood laws in the Criminal and Penal Codes, which have been used to silence journalists, critics, and dissenters.

SERAP raised concern over the growing trend of strategic lawsuits against public participation, noting that the legal tactics, often backed by politicians and security agencies are being used to harass and intimidate Nigerians peacefully expressing their views.

“Your administration’s obligation under the Constitution, your oath of office, and Nigeria’s international human rights commitments requires you to dismantle structures of repression and safeguard democratic freedoms,” SERAP wrote.

The group gave the president a seven-day deadline to begin implementing its recommendations, failing which it vowed to initiate legal action to compel compliance in the public interest.

While acknowledging the president’s recent pledges to deepen democracy and expand civic space, SERAP insisted that only concrete reforms, not lofty speeches, can truly honour the legacy of June 12 and move Nigeria towards a just and free society.

Politics

Ekiti: PDP stakeholders vow to salvage party, win governorship election

Published

22 hours ago

June 16, 2025

Ekwutos Blog

Stakeholders of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Ekiti North Senatorial District have resolved to commit themselves to the survival and the success of the party in the 2026 governorship election in the state.

The party stakeholders made the declaration on Wednesday at a stakeholders meeting held at Ido Ekiti, in Ido Osi LGA.

Speaking at the parley, the convener of the meeting and former PDP senatorial candidate in the 2023 National Assembly election, Mr. Funso Ayeni said he convened the party leaders in the senatorial district to talk to them and as well intimate them about the ongoings in the party.

“It is to also motivate them that they should go back home and remain strong as we prepare for elections to come.

“PDP is my party, the party is strong, and I believe at every point in time there should be unity of purpose. I believe there should be shared value.

“For us, the only thing we can give back to this party is to make sure that it doesn’t die, the party is alive in our present time.

“As you are aware, INEC has released the timetable for our election next year. Election is coming very soon, so as a party we must continue to come together, press together, and then ensure that we are ready for elections to come.

“This is where the majority of the vote is coming from in the next election. I believe this is the time to start mobilizing and galvanizing our people towards making their votes count.Their votes cannot count if you don’t talk to them. And we are talking to ourselves in preparation for that,” he said.

On challenges confronting the party at the national and the state levels, about five months to the governorship primaries, the PDP chieftain said, “So if I may ask, is there any party that has no internal challenges? There is none. So of course, we can talk about the degree of the challenges.

“I believe the National Working Committee is doing essentially what is required for us to be on the track again.

“I believe soon, the party will be able to overcome such internal challenges. There is a series of meetings going on, it is not about me. The party organ that is responsible for that is attending to it, I’m quite confident that all issues will be resolved. And in no distant time, the party will get its direction and then we’re able to face the election.”

On whether the party have any chance to dislodge the ruling APC, Ayeni said: “There is nobody that is happy about the ruling party at the moment, the entire nation is in disarray. Are we saying Ekiti is different from other people that are buying their petrol at how much they are buying it?

“Are we saying the roads in Ekiti are so beautiful now that everybody is happy? Are we saying the economic prosperity in Ekiti is something to write home about? If you believe that everything is not working, it’s as good as anybody in this government can be easily dislodged.

“What I’m saying now is that you have pushed people to the wall. People are not protesting, but they want to protest with their votes. The earlier they know that, the better. People want leadership that can actually manage the challenges that we have at hand. Hungry people on the street, roaming about the street, no work. How has the government been able to industrialize the state? How has the government been able to empower the youths? Our youths are riding okada, are we all happy with that? Those are the issues and they are going to manifest in the vote of the people come June 20, 2026.

“What you have also seen is that people are keeping quiet because the power belongs to them and the power indeed belongs to the people. And when it belongs to the people, they have the mandate to use, and they are going to use it when it comes to that election.

“This is not about me. I have the strong belief that the party that should even be worried now is the APC because they have not done well.

“When you see me now calling on my senatorial district to talk to people, it is to intimate them about the ongoings in the party. It is to also motivate them that they should go back home and remain strong as we prepare for elections to come.”

Politics

Rivers: You can’t join APC through backdoor, window – Okocha warns Fubara

Published

2 days ago

June 15, 2025

Ekwutos Blog

The Chairman of the All Progressives Congress, APC, in Rivers State, Tony Okocha, has cautioned the suspended Governor of Rivers State, Sim Fubara, on the possibility of defecting to the party.

Okocha said Fubara can’t join the APC through the back door, and must go through the laid down procedures.

Speaking yesterday in Port Harcourt, the state capital, Okocha said Fubara must join the APC from the ward level.

He said, “Just like every other Nigerian, he is at liberty to join any political party. That is the law. But, I say anybody, not restricted to the governor, the suspended governor anyway, anybody who wants to join the APC should enter the party through the door, not through the window.

“You have to go to your ward to enroll because your name as a member of the party cannot be found at the national secretariat except it comes from your ward. That is the proper door, that is the proper process.”

Fubara is currently serving a six month suspension following a state of emergency declared in the state by President Bola Tinubu in March.

Tinubu suspended Fubara, his deputy, and all members of the State House of Assembly due to the political crisis in the state.

The President appointed a Sole Administrator to preside over the state during the period of his suspension.

The crisis began shortly after Fubara became governor, following a disagreement with the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, over the control of political resources in the state.

The crisis quickly degenerated into the bombing of the State House of Assembly and the sponsoring of the factionalization of the legislative arm in the state.

Despite Tinubu’s intervention for peace, the crisis persisted, and to prevent it from snowballing into a security outbreak, the President suspended the governor.

Since his suspension, Fubara has met with Tinubu and Wike in an effort to reconcile with all relevant stakeholders in the state.