Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, has dismissed claims that he intends to influence appointments in Rivers State as Governor Siminalayi Fubara resumes office after six months of emergency rule.
Speaking on Politics Today, a Channels Television programme, on Thursday, Wike stressed that he would not impose candidates on the governor despite speculations linking him to the political crisis that engulfed the oil-rich state earlier this year.
“I cannot go and impose anything on the governor. Why would I impose anything on the governor? Assuming I go to the governor and say, ‘I want this,’ will the state collapse? I will not suggest commissioners for the governor. I have no candidate, and I will not,” Wike stated.
The former Rivers governor noted that even if Fubara sought his input, he would only advise him to govern independently and focus on sustaining progress.
“Even if the governor comes to me now and says, ‘we have agreed we want to work together,’ which is natural, I will say, ‘look, I give you free hand, you know how you want to run the state.’
All I would want to say is, I know what I did to keep things at this level, don’t drop it, move ahead. As I speak to you, I left the state where we can compete favourably with Lagos,” he said.
Governor Fubara, suspended in March after a prolonged feud with Wike, was expected to return to office on Thursday, but he did not appear at the Government House. Supporters who had gathered in anticipation of his resumption later dispersed.
Reacting to the development, Wike said there was no law compelling the governor to resume immediately.
“There is no law that says he must resume work today. He is the governor. I don’t understand the way we operate. For example, if I was sworn in today as governor, that doesn’t mean I must go to the office tomorrow.
You don’t know what my programmes are, you don’t know what the governor has scheduled to do, you don’t know where he is,” Wike remarked.
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