Mr Lere Olayinka, Senior Special Assistant on Public Communications and New Media to FCT minister Nyesom Wike, has exonerated the minister from the protracted political crisis in oil-rich Rivers.
Olayinka, in a statement in Abuja, blamed the crisis on Gov. Siminalayi Fubara, Wike’s successor.
The News Agency of Nigeria(NAN), reports that Olayinka was reacting to a statement attributed to Afenifere Chieftain, Dr Femi Okurounmu, which accused Wike of being “the architect and masterminder of Rivers’ crisis”.
Okurounmu had argued that even if Fubara was his godson, Wike should realise that a sitting governor with full powers wouldn’t be a surrogate to anyone.
But Olayinka, in the statement, said that Wike had never asked Fubara to be his surrogate.
Wike, he added, has never asked Fubara not to function as the Governor of Rivers.
He advised Okurounmu, as an elder, to be honest enough to enquire of the role Wike played in making Fubara governor.
“In Yorubaland, when two children are fighting, what the elders do is to sit them down and listen to all sides of the conflict.
“Elders don’t just sit in their bedrooms and apportion blame as done by Okurounmu.
“Was it Wike that went to the Rivers State House of Assembly Complex and set it on fire, to prevent duly elected lawmakers from carrying out their duties?
“Is it Wike that has been illegally using three members, out of the 32 in the State House of Assembly, to carry out legislative business in Rivers State, including passing the State Budget?
“These three members have screened and confirmed commissioners when the constitution says that a budget can only be passed by two-third of the Assembly members. Was Wike responsible for that?”
He accused Fubara of ignoring court judgments meant to restore order to Rivers.
The media aide particularly recalled a Court of Appeal judgment on Oct. 10 affirming a lower court’s decision nullifying the Rivers State’s 2024 budget signed into law and currently being used by Fubara.
“Did the governor obey the judgment?
“Is it not shocking that Okurounmu has chosen to ignore the danger Fubara’s deliberate disregard for the rule of law is posing to democracy and peace in Nigeria?,” he queried.
