The Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, has said Rivers State Governor Siminalayi Fubara made his biggest political mistake by attempting to build an independent political structure shortly after assuming office.
Speaking during a special media chat in Port Harcourt on Saturday, Wike said Fubara began distancing himself from the political structure that brought him to power less than 100 days into his administration.
According to the former Rivers governor, his administration laid a solid foundation for Fubara to continue, with the vision of making Rivers compete with Lagos in infrastructure development.
He pointed to projects such as the Port Harcourt Ring Road and the 12 flyovers completed during his tenure as examples of the developmental groundwork already in place.
“In politics, you have to be careful. There are those who want you to succeed and there are those who don’t. The opportunity you have been given is not one everybody has. You must be careful with the advice you receive,” Wike said.
The FCT minister alleged that some politicians who did not support Fubara’s emergence as governor later influenced him to abandon the political structure that backed his election.
“You just came into office, and people started telling you to build your own structure… You must think carefully about where such advice will lead you,” he said.
Wike maintained that Fubara should have strengthened the existing political structure rather than trying to establish a new one so early.
“He tried to do it by himself and wanted to set up his own structure instead of building on the structure that brought him to power. It did not take up to 100 days before we noticed it and said something was fundamentally wrong,” Wike added.
He also dismissed allegations that he demanded money from the Rivers governor, insisting his interest was to see the state continue on the developmental path his administration had started.
“If it was about money, we wouldn’t have persisted. All I wanted was for him to stabilise the state and continue from where I stopped,” he said.
Wike further stated that under his leadership as FCT minister, internally generated revenue had increased significantly, adding that he had no reason to seek financial benefits from the Rivers State Government.
