- Alleges Wike Supported Fubara for fear of EFCC Trial
By Ken Afor
The leader of the Pan Niger Delta Forum (PANDEF) and a former Federal Commissioner of Information, Chief Edwin Kiagbodo Clark, has lashed out at Nyesom Wike, the immediate past Governor of Rivers State and the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), accusing him of disrespecting his elders and making provocative utterances.
In a strongly worded statement, the elder statesman took exception to Wike’s recent remarks labeling him and other leaders as “interlopers” in Rivers State politics. “It is indeed very provocative and insulting that Mr. Nyesom Wike, the FCT Minister who is the mastermind of the issues bedeviling Rivers State and who was born on the 13th of December 1967 after these two events, should accuse his fathers and leaders like me of being interlopers, daring to challenge his leadership of Rivers State politics,” Clark said.
According to reports, the Ijaw leader who has been a prominent voice in the oil-rich region for decades, also alleged that Wike’s support for Sim Fubara’s gubernatorial candidacy was motivated by a desire to secure immunity from prosecution. “Nyesom Wike should therefore stop making noise about the sponsorship of Sim Fubara,” Clark stated. “He knew the reasons he supported Sim Fubara to become the governor of Rivers State to automatically center immunity on the governor, so therefore he will not be available for questioning as a prosecution witness by the EFCC against Mr. Nyesom Wike.”
The remarks of the leader of the Southern and Middle Belt Leaders Forum (SMBLF) come amid heightened political tensions in Rivers State between members of the State House of Assembly – the legislative and the executive.
The New Diplomat recalls that in view of the feud between Wike and his successor, Fubara, Clark, a former Senator in the 2nd Republic, in an open letter to the Inspector General of Police, IGP Kayode Egbetokun, urged him to wade into the political crisis rocking the state before it escalates into full-blown anarchy.
He emphasized that the letter became necessary following directives from the Rivers State chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC), urging the State House of Assembly to impeach Governor Fubara.
