Wike says what Tinubu’s ‘friends’ did in 2023
Nyesom Wike, Nigeria’s minister of the Federal Capital Territory, has derided some supporters of President Bola Tinubu, saying they refused to identify with him when it mattered most in 2023. Wike made the comment at the thanksgiving service hosted by the chairperson of the South-South Development Forum, Chibudom Nwuche, in Rivers state
He said: “All these people now you are seeing singing ‘on your mandate we stand’, that time when they were needed most, they couldn’t do that.”
“They couldn’t come out to say ‘vote for Bola Ahmed Tinubu’.
“And to the glory of God, we stood, and ‘on your mandate we stand’ today is very strong. So you are the ones who made the mandate strong as far as Rivers State is concerned.
“In 2023, it was difficult for so many people to come out and say, vote for Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu. But we did it.
”When it was tough for people to say ‘on your mandate we stand,’ we stood firm and said ‘on your mandate we stand,’ Wike said.
He assured his supporters that their sacrifices and efforts would not be in vain.
“Now that you stood and voted for him and Rivers State won, I tell you, all your struggles will not go in vain,” he said.
Wike’s comment comes in the wake of the state governor, Sim Fubara’s defection for the ruling All Progressives Congress and his open declaration of support for President Tinubu. Both politicians were at loggerheads, leading to Fubara’s six months suspension and at the same time a proclamation of an emergency rule on the state.
Returning after the hiatus, Fubara reconciled with his former political godfather, Wike and state lawmakers allied with him. However, the indication that the reconciliation had merely created an uneasy relationship between the governor and Wike.
At a recent occasion, Governor Fubara and his political associates had sung the Tinubu political praise song. Social media commentaries believe that Fubara’s defection had got him closer to President Tinubu but, at the same time, reduced Wike’s influence over him.
