Lessons for Wike from Delta State
Delta State Governor, Sheriff Oborevwori, last weekboastedthathispredecessor,SenatorIfeanyi Okowa does not interfere in the governance of the state.Headdedthatunlikeotherformergovernors of some states, Okowa respects the office of the governor.
Speakingatthe60thbirthdayand24thmarriage anniversary thanksgiving of the state Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Olorogun Kingsley Esiso in Sapele, Oborevwori said Okowa is a good man, who has immense respect for the office of the governor.
He said: “Senator Okowa is a good man; he is not like other predecessors of other states. He has never interfered in the governance of the state. He hasimmenserespectfortheofficeofthegovernor, beinganimmediatepastoccupantoftheoffice.You areagoodman;youarenotlikeotherpredecessors in other states. Our immediate past governor is a very refined man. So many rumours were flying, but the truth is that he has never ever interfered with what we are doing in the state.”
While Oborevwori can conveniently boast of his predecessor’s non-interference in the affairs of the state, the same cannot be said of Rivers State where Governor Siminalayi Fubara, who is suffering in the hands of his predecessor and Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike.
Wike is not the only key member of President Bola Tinubu’s cabinet that installed a governor.
VicePresidentKashimShettimawasinstrumen- taltotheemergenceofGovernorBabaganaZulum of Borno State; Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Senator George Akume installed Benue State Governor, Reverend Father Hyacinth Alia; Minister of Works, Dave Umahi was alsoinstrumentaltotheemergenceofEbonyiState Governor,FrancisNwifuru;theMinisterofDefence, Mohammed Badaru Abubakar installed Governor Umar Namadi of Jigawa State, while the Minister of Budget and National Planning, Abubakar Atiku BagudualsoinstalledGovernorNasiruIdrisofKebbi State, among others.
But while these eminent persons have focused on their new assignments in Abuja, Wike has been shuttling between Abuja and Port Harcourt, making public utterances that suggest that he is more interested in the control of Rivers State than his new assignment in Abuja where he is expected to help security agencies to secure the territory.