The Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, has said he wanted Rivers State Governor Siminalayi Fubara to secure a second term in office despite their prolonged political feud.
Wike and Fubara were at loggerheads for months after the governor assumed office, but both politicians recently reconciled following efforts to end the crisis.
During the political dispute, Fubara, who later defected from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the All Progressives Congress (APC), failed to secure the party’s ticket in the primary election.
Speaking during his monthly media chat, Wike insisted that he had openly demonstrated his support for Fubara’s re-election bid.
“We don’t like the truth. I flagged off the Ring Road and I said that day that if you complete this road, nobody will stop your second term. How do you endorse somebody more than that?” he said.
When asked whether he genuinely wanted Fubara to serve a second term, Wike replied in the affirmative.
“That’s right. You have to build a system, and he’s from our political structure. There is nowhere in this world, whether in the Republican or Democratic Party, where people don’t belong to groups within a political party. Every group has its own leader, but that does not make you a godfather.”
The FCT minister argued that he had lost nothing from their political conflict, maintaining that it was Fubara whose political ambition had been affected.
“At the end of the fight, I have not lost anything, but you have lost because your intention was to go for a second tenure, but you are not going.”
Wike also said he still has affection for the Rivers governor and expressed disappointment that Fubara would not be seeking another term.
“Those of us who love you, Fubara, feel so bad. If I don’t love him, why would I support him? That’s the point I’m making. Out of all these things, who has really lost?”
