Former lawmaker representing Oshodi/Isolo Constituency 2 at the Lagos State House of Assembly, Jude Idimogu, has criticised Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, accusing him of causing trouble in Rivers State, He called on President Bola Tinubu to review his relationship with the former governor.
Idimogu in a statement held that the president did well by intervening in the crisis between Governor Siminalaye Fubara and Wike, adding that such intervention was coming a bit late.
He claimed that Wike disturbed the peace of the nation in general and Rivers State in particular, especially considering the fact that the state was the melting point of the nation with the oil exploration going in the state.
He warned that President Tinubu was gambling with Wike because if the crisis was not well managed the nation would find it difficulty to meet is production quota as given by Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC)
“The president has taken the right action but for me, it is a little bit too late, because the signs have been there, Rivers State is a melting point for Nigeria, especially in terms of crude oil exploration.
“Well I would tell you that the president is gambling, I am telling you because, Wike shouldn’t hold the country, Rivers State to ransom. I don’t even know, even though Wike has done his own, he has helped us to win the election, but it doesn’t mean the president cannot do without him. The president is gambling I am telling you, he is gambling. Look at the troubles all this while, does the country belong to Wike, what is the problem?”
He suggested that the president should review Wike’s activities and called Wike a bad market not just to APC, but to the president.
“Must Wike always have his way? Must you? Well, it is quite unfortunate. I think it is high time the president reviewed the activities of Nyesom Wike. As for the Ministry of Federal Capital Territory, there must be somebody who can do it better. Why must it be Wike? Wike will put the president into trouble.
“Let the president wake up and take a decision about Wike, as far as I am concerned he is a bad market, a bad market for our party, APC and the president. The president, Oh God, review your stand with Wike, for the interest of the nation.
“Look at what Wike is causing the nation, we have not even reached our crude oil production quota given by OPEC, and now we are going to lose more, must Wike have his way, must he have his way?
He called Tinubu the father of Democracy and a trusted leader, urging him to take action. He said Wike has nothing much to bring to the table, the same as in 2023. He stressed that the FCT minister is simply reaping where he did not show unlike people like el-Rufai who worked extremely hard for the president to emerge as president but were not given the opportunity to serve.
“In addition to what I have said, regarding the declaration of state of emergency, the president is doing well, trying to solve Nigeria’s problems but the challenge is there. President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, as father of Democracy in Nigeria, as a leader we have always trusted, as far as I am concerned, the best Democratic President we have had from his days, he has come a long way when it comes to the issue of democracy, that is what I am trying to say, so a tree cannot make a forest, but a tree can start a forest. The president appointed Wike, but the president should look at it again. There were people who worked hard, like el-Rufai, el-Rufai worked assiduously during the primaries, the change naira, during the election and after the election, you can verify, at the end of the day, the president become the president, but el-Rufai was not given opportunity for one reason or the other, I don’t know.”