Wike, Odili Face-Off Intensifies

Two years ago, a political feud between the immediate past governor of Rivers state, Nyesom Wike and one-time governor of the oil rich state Peter Odili could not have been contemplated due to their closeness and long political affinity.

The two former governors have now become bitter political foes, following the intensification of their attack against each other, described by political analysts as a fierce battle for the control of the state.

The latest attack came from Wike, who on Sunday, accused Odili of being ungrateful to him after what he did for him. The minister, who claimed to have built a house for Odili, said the former governor should not be taken serious by his ‘children’ for being inconsistent, and lacking integrity expected of an elder statesman.

The minister who spoke in Port Harcourt during a thanksgiving service at the Anglican Church organsised for Martin Amefule, the factional Speaker of the state House of Assembly, was reacting to recent allegations by Odili that the FCT minister instigated the political crisis in the state after Governor Simi Fubara stopped him from putting the state in his pocket.

“Governor Fubara confronted the challenge, prevented the quest by one man to capture the State as a private estate, emancipated Rivers people, steadied governance and made civil servants and Rivers people happier as it used to be” Odili said.

Wike’s reaction was contained in a statement issued in Abuja, the nation’s capital  by his media aide, Lere Olayinka.

According to Wike, he brought Odili back after eight years of  political oblivion, he suffered under former Governor Rotimi Amaechi, wondering why Odili has now turned his enemy after his benevolence to him.

On Odili’s allegation that he’s trying to corner the state’s resources, Wike said his predecessor’s family are the ones who have captured the state, saying Odili’s “wife is a Chairman of Governing Council, his daughter is a commissioner, his other daughter is a judge and he is the general overseer.”

Part of the statement read: “You know, I didn’t want to say anything, but somebody called me last night, and told me what someone said in the social media. I said until I read it myself. This morning, I read in the newspapers, what our former Governor, Sir Dr Peter Odili said.

“What did he say? He said that the present governor has been able to stop one man who wanted to convert Rivers State to his personal estate.

“Between him and myself, who has turned Rivers State to his personal estate? His wife is a Chairman of Governing Council, his daughter is a commissioner, his other daughter is a judge and he is the general overseer. Who has now turned Rivers State to his private estate? I am sure if care is not taken, if there is a chance, he can even arrange a marriage for the governor.

“It was his nephew, his late elder brother’s son who was recommended for commissioner. He took the slot and gave it to his own daughter. Someone who didn’t remember to stand for the son of his late elder brother, is that an elder statesman?”

Wike said it was painful that Dr Odili, out of political sycophancy, has forgotten all that he said in the past, adding that; “All of you here remember when I was governor, this same Odili praised me to high heavens. In fact, he said then that all past governors in Rivers State combined did not do better than me.

“In 2007 after he left office, he couldn’t come near power in the State because Amaechi was the governor then. He was gone!

“Like somebody said that God will use someone to lift up someone. When I came in as governor in 2015, I won’t use the word resurrected, but I brought him back to life.

“All of us know about PAMO University. But for us, there wouldn’t have been anything called PAMO University. Rivers State was sponsoring 100 students per session and for every semester, each of the students was paying nothing less than N5m. Then, Rivers people were attacking me up and down.

“I personally called Julius Berger to build a mansion for him to live. He was calling everyone to the house then, telling them, come and see what Wike has done for me. Wike has shown me love. He was taking them round the house.

“Now, because you have organized a Christmas Carol for the governor, I didn’t say you should not do your Christmas Carol, but why reduce yourself to such a laughing stock? People will still see it on television how he was telling the whole world then how God used me to bring him back to life politically.

“Why not do your Christmas Carol, collect what you can collect and leave me alone?

“The governor who all of us made has not spent one year in office and the same Odili was already saying that the governor has beaten the records of all the past governors of Rivers State.

“When I was there, he said I had surpassed the records of all the past governors, including himself. What can he even show that he did in his eight years as governor? But a governor has not spent one year, you are saying he has done more than all the past governors.

“You spent eight years as governor and someone who hasn’t spent one year has surpassed your records? What manner of elder talks like that? Is that what an elder statesman should be known for? The minister said.

Recall that Wike and Governor Fubara were once political allies until late last year when the governor accused the minister of undermine his authority by trying to rule the state through the back door.

The crisis has further been exacerbated as the feuding parties try to control the state House of Assembly which has now been fictionalized between the Victor Oko-Jumbo-led faction backed by the governor, and the Martin Amaewhule-led House backed by Governor Fubara.

Meanwhile, political analysts insist that Wike, Amaechi were part of the Odili political dynasty which started in 1999 after the nation’s returned to constitutional democracy. The fracture,  they said, emerged in 2007 after Amaechi became governor and decided to punish Odili for the hurdles he faced on his way to the Port Harcourt Government House.