By Cross Udo, Abuja
President Bola Tinubu yesterday intervened in the rift between Governor Simi Fubara of Rivers State and his predecessor in office, Nyesom Wike, which has dragged the state into a political crisis.
President Tinubu used the opportunity of the Police Council meeting which both attended as members, to mediate and perhaps end the feud between the two political allies.
The President’s intervention was disclosed by the Governor of Bauchi State, Bala Mohammed while briefing State House correspondents on the outcome of the meeting presided over by the President at the presidential villa in Abuja.
Despite their feud, Fubara and Wike had earlier exchanged pleasantries inside the Council Chambers venue of the meeting before it commenced.
The Bauchi State Governor, Muhammed, who is the chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party Governors Forum (PDP-GF) also disclosed that the opposition governors have resolved to work with the president because he has shown good faith by not interfering with gubernatorial cases brought before the courts by PDP members.
The peace moves followed the confirmation of Kayode Egbetokun as the substantive Inspector General of Police, IGP, by the council.
The Minister of Police Affairs, Ibrahim Geidam, explained that the council confirmed him because he had acquitted himself well since he was appointed in an acting capacity.
He noted that Egbetokun has also provided a blueprint for ensuring the security of the country, which indicates his suitability for the post.
Rivers State Governor, Siminalayi Fubara, and the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike met at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
The event in the State House was the National Police Council meeting presided over by President Bola Tinubu.
The duo are among the 36 state governors invited to attend the Police Council meeting held in the Council Chambers in the Presidential Villa, Abuja, under the watchful eyes of President Tinubu.
Other state governors at the closed-door meeting are Yahaya Bello (Kogi), Dapo Abiodun (Ogun), Ahmadu Fintiri (Adamawa), Bala Mohammed (Bauchi), Abdullahi Abba (Kano), and Bassey Otu (Cross River).
Before they went into a closed-door session, some of the governors, including Wike and the National Security Adviser (NSA), Nuhu Ribadu, were sighted as they engaged in an aside discussion while others engaged in exchanging banters.
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*In Aso Rock, FCT Minister, Rivers Gov exchange pleasantries
In the ensuing development, Wike later proceeded to shake hands and briefly exchange pleasantries with Governor Fubara after he had disengaged from the NSA.
It is the first time the Rivers state Governor (decked in a white Kaftan) and his estranged godfather, Wike (also spotted in a white kaftan) are meeting face to face since the beginning of the reported spat between them.
A reported crisis between Fubara and Wike was said to have led to moves by 24 members of the Rivers State House of Assembly to impeach Governor Fubara resulting in turbulence in the state on Monday, as the governor’s loyalists stormed the assembly complex in protest against the plot.
*Wike says the issue is not ethnic-based
Meanwhile, speaking in his office while playing host to the Managing Director of Niger Delta Development Commission NDDC, Dr Sam Ogbuku; former Presidential Adviser on Amnesty, Dr Kingsley Kuku; Chief Ayiri Emami; Chief Tony Okocha; Elder TK Ogoriba, among others, Wike called for unity among the various ethnic nationalities in the Niger Delta.
He said nothing tangible could be achieved in an atmosphere of disunity.
He said, “In Niger Delta, we should stop ethnicising any event that happens. And that is why we are not always getting things right. It is not only when something favours us, then we are right, and when it doesn’t favour us, then we are wrong.
“In politics, there is a lot of internal wrangling, but it doesn’t mean that those involved will not settle in their family. So, when things are wrong, you ask questions, that is what leadership is all about. When you hear something, ask questions to know what is going on or what happened, so you can also appraise the situation.”
