RANDOM MUSINGS:
WIKE’S ‘RISE’, EDO NO BE LAGOS AND ONE OTHER THING.
with
Ben C. Abraham.
THE ‘RISE AND RISE’ OF NYESOM WIKE
Nyesom Wike, the serving Minister of the Federal Capital Territory is a headline maker, not so much for his achievements in the FCT as it is of his running battles with the PDP and his estranged godson and current Governor of Rivers State, Simi Fubara. Soon after the Governor’s inauguration, Wike’s overbearing influence manifested and thus began the battle of long knives in the bid to control the State. And just when observers
thought that Fubara had successfully contained his erstwhile godfather, Wike ‘struck’ through the NWC of the PDP in the Rivers State congresses where his men regained control of the State party structure despite a court order stopping the congresses. Appeals and entreaties by both Governor Fubara and other PDP Governors fell on deaf ears. Anxiously fighting for his political future, ahead of the October 5th local government elections Governor Fubara mobilized his wards to cross over to the Action People’s Party (APP) and contest the elections. Speaking about the defection, Wike mocked the Governor while promising to teach him and his men politics very soon. The ex-Governor made the boast during a reception organized for him by a section of Fubara’s ethnic brethren, the Ijaw People’s Assembly in Port Harcourt. To attend the reception Wike was accompanied by the PDP G5 ex Governors who, by the way, are out of work and maybe looking to Wike for their next political relevance. Why not, if one may ask? It was during the same reception that Lokpobiri Heineken, another ijaw and the serving Minister of State for Petroleum resources stated to everyone’s hearing that it was Wike that made him a Minister in Tinubu’s Government. Pray, what kind of politics will Wike teach Fubara and his foot soldiers who have taken shelter in APP? The politics of ballot box snatching, thuggery and intimidation, forged results, manipulation of Judges to issue court orders and declare winners, the deployment of Federal might and all that is despicable and antithetical to what democracy espouses. It is the kind that was witnessed during the 2023 presidential elections in Rivers State that gave President Tinubu the lead and brought Fubara into power; which sealed the pact between Tinubu and Wike leading to the FCT helms man role. That is the politics Wike knows. Unfortunately, that is the politics that so many Nigerians have increasingly accepted, applauded and even desire to be a part of. Shame.
THE EDO GOVERNORSHIP ELECTIONS;
Edo no be Lagos became a refrain in the build up to the September 21 off cycle Governorship elections in Edo State. It was a derisive reference to how Lagosians have been under the jackboot of Tinubu for ages and how that Edolites as the people of Edo State are referred to would resist the replication of a similar chokehold in the State. The elections have indeed come and gone. Monday Okpebholo of the APC was declared the winner by INEC. He was closely followed by the outgoing Governor’s anointed man, Ituah Ighodalo of the PDP, leaving former NBA President Olumide Akpata of the Labour Party in distant third position. To prosecute the election, the top guns of the APC relocated to Benin City and even before the final results were announced videos showed Senate president Akpabio leading a praise session with Governors and others in attendance. They were thanking God for the victory ahead of the official declaration. And upon the declaration of the results, viral photos showed Monday Okpebholo kneeling down to appreciate Akpabio while others watched on. Some commentators said that he was showing humility. Others decried it as a show of sheepishness. He repeated the ‘humility’ when President Tinubu received him in Aso Rock villa as the APC goons went to thank the president for the victory. During the presidential campaigns ahead of the 2023 elections, Tinubu had promised to return Edo State to APC if he won the presidency. The other parties have alleged INEC’s complicity in the Okpebholo ‘victory’
especially in the Edo North area of the State. Meanwhile, there were allegations of massive vote buying involving both the APC and PDP during the elections. In his speech to the APC men’s visit to the villa, Tinubu congratulated his party loyalists for delivering Edo State and specifically told Okpebholo to ignore the noise makers who complain. Now the ‘election’ moves to the courts as the PDP have signaled their intention to challenge the results at the tribunal. In a tone that depicted arrogant defiance, Abdullahi Ganduje the APC National chairman stated that the Edo story will be repeated in Ondo and Anambra States where the off cycle elections will take place next. Indeed, Edo no be Lagos.
……AND ONE OTHER THING:
BOB AND A RISKY VENTURE;
When it rains, it pours. That is a fitting reference to the entire gamut of revelations and the avalanche that trail the expose by Martin Otse aka verydarkman on Idris Okunneye aka Bobrisky with regard to his arrest by the EFCC, trial and jail term. Just when everyone thought that Bobrisky had successfully served time following his conviction and sentence without option of fine, verydarkman opened a can of worms playing a recorded phone conversation between Bobrisky and a supposed benefactor wherein he narrated how he paid his way through his case starting with the N15m he gave EFCC officers to drop one of the charges. He went on to tell how he did not stay in kirikiri prison to do his time as ordered by the court but was kept in a private lodge outside the walls of the jailhouse upon ‘settlement’ of prison officers. The narration took a twist when he named Falz Falana son of legal icon Femi Falana SAN as having tabled his case before his father in order to get State pardon for him. He said that he gave N10m for the yet-to-be-fulfilled brief. Martin Otse’s viral post sent tremors across the social and Governmental divides. Even lawyers were involved with the NBA issuing a statement on the matter as it touched Falana SAN, one of their own. In the immediate aftermath of the quakes, which by the way still have aftershocks, the Minister of the Interior ordered for the suspension of the heads of the kirikiri maximum and medium prisons. The EFCC on their part have launched investigations into the involvement of their men in the odiferous saga (apologies to Hon Patrick Obiahagbon). Falana Chambers have issued a letter asking for a retraction and apology by verydarkman while the EFCC and the House of Reps have invited the dramatis personae to their office and chambers respectively. It was MKO Abiola of blessed memory that said that one’s head cannot be shaved in his absence and that makes it imperative for thorough investigations to be done in this matter. As for the prisons, if Bobrisky’s story is confirmed then it would add to a long line of stories of what goes on there. When the term correctional service was introduced to replace prison service, we argued that it was a mere change of nomenclature without more. The system is in dire need of reform. Maybe Bob’s risky venture will ignite this much desired reform; just may be.