Wike Exerts Chokehold On Rivers Weeks After Swearing-In Of Sim Fubara

Information filtering into our newsroom indicate that three weeks after the current governor of Rivers state, Siminialayi Fubara was sworn in as governor of the maritime, oil and rich state on May 29, 2023 the former governor of the state, Chief Nyesom Wike is still in control of the reins of governance in the state.
Events playing out in technicolor, are giving credence to widespread fears that, the present governor may just be a figure head while the power behind the throne, Nyesom Wike is the one calling the shots and pulling the strings of government from his comfort zone in Rumuepirikom. in Obio/Akpor Local Government Area.
An indication to this effect showed up with the release of the first list of commissioners sent to the State House of Assembly for screening and confirmation on May 30, 2023. The list was made up of people who worked closely with Wike during his two four year tenures totaling eight years. The names include, Dakorinama George-Kelly returned as Commissioner for Works. Zachaeus Adango was re-instated as Commissioner for Justice and Attorney General, Professor Chinedu Mmon retained his portfolio as Commissioner for Education, and Isaac Kamalu also retained his portfolio as Commissioner for Finance.
About a fortnight later, more names were sent to the House of Assembly for screening as Commissioners.
The names reeled out do not evoke any sense of fair play or respect for merit. Those that made the list are; Emeka Woke, former Chief of Staff, to Nyesom Wike, Charles Amadi who served under Wike as Commissioner of Chieftaincy Affairs, Christopher Green, Roselyn Uranta, a retired civil servant, Adaeze Chidinma Oreh (daughter of a former Governor, Dr. Peter Odili) and Jacobson Mbina who rose to prominence during Dr. Peter Odili’s administration.
These appointments and nominations emerge in contradiction to the statements made by Wike a few days to the end of his rule and inauguration of the rule by his handpicked successor in which he pledged to keep his distance from the new administration. He had declared that, ‘We will not disturb your administration. But, we will not allow you to make us cry. We want you to succeed more than us so that, when we are passing on the road, we will raise our shoulders and say we told you that he will do better than us ”.
Also worrisome is the fact that Hon. Martins Amaewhule, who represents Obio/Akpor constituency emerged as the Speaker of the House of Assembly. Amaewhule, is a Wike acolyte. Taking stock of all these key appointments, it would not be wrong for dispassionate Rivers people to conclude that it is the bright day that brings forth the viper.
Additionally, an unholy alliance between Wike and his godfather, Peter Odili ensured that the Deputy Governor of the State Prof Ngozi Odu, is a nominee of Dr. Peter Odili, governor of the state from 1999 to 2007.
It would be recalled that Nyesom Wike practically leaned over backwards to ensure that his preferred gubernatorial aspirant, Siminialayi Joseph Fubara emerged gubernatorial candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP in the run up to the 2023 elections.
In the process of ensuring that Sim Fubara emerged the guber candidate of the PDP in Rivers State, Nyesom Ezenwo Wike stepped on a lot of toes. The first aspirant to feel Nyesom Wike’s desperation to cling to power by proxy was Hon. Farah Dagogo, the member representing Degema/Bonny Constituency in the House of Representatives . Inside sources claim that Nyesom Wike dared Hon. Farah Dagogo assuring him that in Farah’s quest to govern the state, Farah will not even be able to see or buy the gubernatorial nomination forms.
Farah who is known to be in the habit of challenging Wike, had told Wike in unmistakable terms that he would buy the guber nomination forms which would entitle him to contest the governorship race in the State.
True to his character typology, Farah bought the guber nomination forms and started mobilizing support for his candidature. On the D-Day of the PDP gubernatorial primaries, Hon. Farah Dagogo was arrested by police loyal to the then governor, Nyesom Wike on trumped up charges that he conspired with others at large to disrupt the PDP guber primaries.
It is on record that Hon. Farah was manhandled by the police, arraigned in court and thrown into jail for ostensibly daring Nyesom Wike. He was released after spending months in jail.
Meanwhile, within the inner circle of the Peoples Democratic Party caucus, all manner of cracks were becoming more visible. Guber aspirants like the former Minister of transport, Dr. Abiye Sekibo, former Deputy Speaker of House of Representatives, Hon. Austin Okpara, Senator Tari Sekibo and other top PDP faithful were flexing their muscles.
In a nutshell, Nyesom Wike bullied all the prominent PDP guber candidates and cowed them into submitting to Sim Fubara, his preferred guber candidate.
The manner in which these PDP political heavy weights were treated with disdain set many tongues wagging, fuelling a lot of discontent and rancor within the PDP in the State.
To make matters worse, the festering crisis within the PDP at the national level did not help matters. A palpable cleavage had developed within the state. The PDP elements that were loyal to Atiku Abubakar, the PDP presidential candidate in the 2023 election and those who were demonstrating their unfettered loyalty to Nyesom Wike in the state.
Dispassionate political observers are of the view that Nyesom Wike was crying over spilt milk as a result of his loss to Alhaji Atiku Abubakar at the PDP Presidential primaries. Wike, who was not accustomed to tasting political defeat, did not know what hit him or how he lost the primaries to date. He elected eventually to fight Alhaji Atiku Abubakar to a standstill. The end result of the entire political melodrama was the Jagaban of Borgu as the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
In Rivers state, as expected Siminialayi Fubara emerged as the governor of the state but a lot of people were expressing fears that Governor Siminialayi Joseph Fubara may just be part of a well-orchestrated plot by Wike to run for a third and perhaps a fourth term in of