Politics is a dynamic game with the most uncertain out-come of all games. It is politics that creates foes among the best friends and best friends among the worst enemies. Since the conduct of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, presidential primary election in June this year, Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers state and his surrogates have been trying all kinds of political antics to bring the house down for easons best known to them.
Immediately after the PDP presidential primary election where Wike lost the race to former Vice President Atiku Abubakar and veteran politician since the day of IBB’ aborted transition, precisely since the day of People’s Front of Nigeria (PFN) which transformed into People’s Democratic Front (PDF), which is one of the powerful blocks that formed the PDP till today, Wike started to vomit anger, jealousy, and hatred towards certain candidates, and the leadership of the PDP, with the national chairman Iyorchia Ayu and Northern Nigeria in general at the receiving end. Prior to the PDP presidential primary election, Wike told the entire world and Nigerians that he is going into the presidential primaries race not to be compensated by the vice president office or any other low office.
After the primary election, Wike started exhibiting all sorts of anti-party tendencies by making all sorts of noises and threatening the PDP presidential ticket, as well as the party. He forgot that it was the PDP that he rode and reached where he is today. The whole issue with Wike started long ago when the party stakeholders allowed him to pocket the party as his personal fiefdom! It was Wike that ousted three PDP national chairmen (Ali Modu Sheriff, Ahmed Muhammad Makarfi, and Uce Secondus) from power. Why? Because of his personal desperation of getting immunity after the expiration of his tenure as governor of Rivers state.
The financial misappropriation within the Rivers state government is common knowledge. Just recently the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, declared the state’s former accountant general wanted over alleged N435 billion fraud in the state. There were rumours that the former accountant general was hiding in the government house, as he is the anointed candidate of Governor Wike for PDP gubernatorial primary election in the state. Thus, one needs to question the integrity of Wike in insisting the person wanted for this alleged fraud must become governor, as well as raising the question why Wike insisted on him only? Only time will detail it more.
Recently, Wike has been threatening the PDP and Atiku in particular, with the collapse of the party if he does not get his way. It is only in Wike’s clime that someone who contested election and lost will be threatening others for his failure just because he was not picked as a running mate, which he categorically said he is not interesting in. This shows us how dead our politicians in their reasoning. How did Wike and his handlers know that Atiku Abubakar promised the vice presidential ticket to someone else during the PDP primaries politicking? Do they want Atiku to rescind that promise? If that was promised to Wike and rescinded, what will be his reaction?
Wike’s recent outings with other parties, particularly those of the national ruling party, the All Progressives Congress, APC, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila, Senator Aliyu Wamakko, as well as Lagos state Governor Sanwo-Olu, will not take him anywhere in his 2023 political sojourn. The Bola Ahmed Tinubu (BAT) he is courting, is not only wary of him, but it will cause a lot of spite that it will generate when he crisscrosses to the APC, as Rotimi Ameachi is there. Thus, the BAT team has weighed the advantage of having Wike, and losing Ameachi, which will surely spill the bean for both BAT’s team and APC in the public domain. Your political battle with Ameachi is still fresh in the minds of the Nigerian public.
Wike, also your recent romance with Labour Party (LP) candidate, Mr. Peter Obi, as well as Obi’s promoter in-Chief, former President Olusegun Obasanjo, will surely not deliver the desired baby for you. Both late president Umar Yar’adua and Goodluck Jonathan were famously promoted by OBJ, and how did that venture end? Yar’adua and Jonathan are tolerant and less combusting than you are, but still their venture with OBJ ended disastrously. Thus, your venture with OBJ can easily be predicted how it will end up. Thus, you need to tread carefully.
It is surprising how Wike wanted to take control of this situation looking at how he put himself into this predicament. It was Wike himself and his best friend and governor of Benue state Samuel Ortom that advanced the candidature of Ayu as the party’s national chairman to the detriment of all other contenders from the North. He believed that Ayu will do their bidding in supporting or subverting the rules in favour of Wike at the presidential primary. Today, it is the same Wike that is accusing Ayu of working against his interest, and it turned around that Wike is now preaching Ayu must go as the national chairman of PDP, ironically, Ortom is not in the wagon of Ayu must go.
The boast by Wike that he will bring down the PDP presidential team to a halt must be done with all urgency in his life. PDP losing the presidential election will be the political grave of Wike. As well known, APC cannot accommodate Wike and Ameachi under the same roof. Likewise, OBJ’s cohabitation with Wike will only be of a limited time. Thus, as things are now, it seems it’s PDP and its presidential candidate might (might, because Wike already complicated things for himself) accommodate him. This is because, if Atiku eventually wins the election, the Atiku team will decisively deal with Wike with their federal might.
It will be interesting who Wike and Ortom will blame when they are completely rooted out of the 2023 politicking and out of affairs of the PDP, their respective states, as well as the federal government. Hope they are not going to blame their perceived common enemy to hide their political arithmetic failure. Wike, you kindly need to thread cautiously and softly. As they say, a word is enough for the wise.
Abdullahi writes from Texas, United States via llccoimex@gmail
