Federal Capital Territory Minister Nyesom Wike has issued a fiery warning to the All Progressives Congress national secretary, Ajibola Basiru, to keep out of Rivers State politics, branding the oil-rich state a “no-go area” for outsiders eyeing its reported N600 billion war chest. Speaking Monday during a thank-you tour in Oyigbo Local Government Area, Wike accused some political actors of grabbing state funds only to speak recklessly about Rivers affairs. “Let me warn those who come to Rivers State, because you have heard that we have N600bn, you come here, you collect, and you open your mouth to talk anyhow,” he declared.
The salvo stems from barbed exchanges within APC ranks over Governor Siminalayi Fubara’s legitimacy. It began when Rivers APC Vice Chairman South-South, Victor Giadom, during Wike’s recent visits to Khana and Gokana areas, called Fubara “the so-called Governor” and insisted he could not win re-election without Wike’s blessing.
Basiru, responding on Facebook Sunday, distanced himself from Giadom’s words, calling them “unfortunate.” “I find it unfortunate that a member of the NWC… was referring to a governor in our party as a ‘so-called governor of Rivers State’. The office of the governor is an exalted position, and whoever is occupying it must be respected, irrespective of whatever political differences you have,” the Osun senator wrote.
Wike, undeterred, turned his ire on Basiru directly. “I say it here, take this message to your National Secretary, leave Rivers State alone. Go and ask those who have done it before. Don’t take our support for Mr President for granted. You have to be careful with statements you make,” he told the crowd in Oyigbo. He added a veiled threat: “Today, you are enjoying in Osun, you don’t know those who did the work. You are opening your mouth to talk about Rivers State. Anything you see, take it. Go and ask other people what has happened to them before. If your hand burns, no be me burn am o. This state is a no-go area. Take the one you have taken, stop making unnecessary comments.”
This flare-up revives Rivers’ chronic political feuds, etched deep since the state’s 1976 creation from the old Eastern Region. Oil wealth—Rivers pumps 25% of Nigeria’s crude—has long magnetised godfathers, from Peter Odili’s 1999-2007 tenure, marked by the 2003 militancy surge led by Asari Dokubo and Ateke Tom, to Rotimi Amaechi’s rift with Odili that birthed the Grassroots Development Initiative.
Wike, Amaechi’s protégé turned rival, dominated as governor from 2015-2023, bulldozing roads like the Port Harcourt Ring Road and wrestling PDP primaries through Supreme Court battles. His handpicked successor, Fubara—a former accountant-general—took oath in 2023 amid explosions at the Assembly complex, sparking a crisis that saw 27 pro-Wike lawmakers defect to APC, only for courts to sack them. President Bola Tinubu’s 2023 Abuja peace deal froze accounts, swore in nine Fubara allies, and positioned Wike as FCT enforcer—yet fault lines persist.
The N600 billion figure, bandied in Wike’s speech and local discourse, traces to Rivers’ 2024 budget of N710 billion, bolstered by Federation Account allocations and 13% derivation—N242 billion last year per Budget Office data. Critics like Giadom tie it to stalled projects, while Wike frames it as bait for “collectors” now biting the hand.
In Oyigbo, Wike’s host community near Indorama Eleme Fertilizer plant, Renewed Hope Ambassador Desmond Akawor piled on Fubara, blaming him for halting development since inauguration. “We elected Governor Siminalayi Fubara with the expectation that Oyigbo would benefit meaningfully from development. Your Excellency, development in Oyigbo has stalled. We have not moved an inch forward,” Akawor said. He noted the lone gain: a commissioner slot for himself. “The only tangible benefit Oyigbo has received is a Commissioner slot, which was given to me. Beyond that, nothing substantial has come to our people.”
Akawor invoked the N600 billion without disputing it: “There is talk about N600 billion. Let us be clear, we are not here to argue figures. But Oyigbo people must not be excluded. If N40 billion was allocated across groups, Oyigbo must not be shortchanged. We are not asking for favours; we are asking for fairness.”
Oyigbo, with its oil wells and refugee influx from 1967 Biafra War—where massacres claimed thousands—exemplifies Rivers’ inequities. Post-1999, it saw Afam Power upgrades and Trans-Niger Pipeline repairs, but militancy in the 2000s razed facilities, costing $1 billion yearly in vandalism per NNPC records.
Wike’s APC volley, despite his PDP roots, nods to Tinubu loyalty—his FCT role secured after delivering Rivers votes in 2023 polls. Basiru’s rebuke highlights party discipline strains, as South-South APC eyes 2027 amid Fubara’s PDP hold. Giadom’s defiance recalls his 2020 national chairmanship grab, quashed by courts.
