Fubara Now PDP Leader in Rivers, Says Odili

* Those disrespecting me will end in disgrace, governor declares

* Woke slams Wike’s critics 

Chuks Okocha in Abuja and Blessing Ibunge in Port Harcourt

Former governor of Rivers State, Peter Odili, has declared Governor Siminalayi Fubara as the political leader of the state, praising him for defending the interests of the people. Odili stated this at the inauguration of a health facility donated by his foundation to his Ndoni hometown.

Odili’s assertion came as Fubara warned that those currently disrespecting him and his office would someday be disgraced. He added that he would not turn back from his human development projects in the state.

However, former Chief of Staff to incumbent Minister of Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, when he was Rivers State governor, Chukwuemeka Woke, slammed those criticising his former principal over the statements he made during a recent media chat about the political situation in the state. Woke spoke during a stakeholders meeting at the Emohua local government council secretariat.

Odili, who served between 1999 and 2007, stated that Fubara, having secured his electoral victory through the ballot and the courts, had become the political leader of the oil-rich South-south state.

Odili spoke at the commissioning of a Primary Healthcare Centre donated by his PAMO Foundation in Ndoni, his hometown, in Ogba-Egbema-Ndoni Local Government Area.

He emphasised the strategic importance of Rivers State, warning that if the state sneezes, the entire nation catches cold. Odili urged Fubara to act with this awareness in all its decisions.

Assessing Fubara’s performance, Odili commended him for making significant strides in critical sectors within his first year in office, particularly focusing on the well-being of the people.

He stated that Fubara’s administration was in alignment with President Bola Tinubu’s agenda, especially in the health sector, following the recent launch of the Primary Healthcare Fellows scheme by the federal government.

Odili encouraged the governor to maintain the alignment with the president and his policies to attract federal government’s attention and support to the state.

Fubara, who also spoke at the occasion, said his administration would continue to protect the interest of Rivers people. He stressed that what detractors thought was for evil against his government, God had turned to good.

The governor stated, “Let me say it here that anyone of you who think you are disrespecting me, you have already dug your pit, you will fall inside it. Our minds are open and we do not wish anybody bad but we expect you to do what is right. For those of you that have decided to take that part you think leads to your destination, safe journey.

“Siminalayi Fubara and his team will continue to take that course that God has given us, we’ll flow in a direction that your resistance won’t matter to us. We will flow in a direction that will lead to our destination and we’ll make our people proud.”

Meanwhile, Woke said instead of those, whom he described as failed politicians in the state, to address the salient issues raised by the FCT minister about their characters, they were diverting attention. 

He said Wike’s critics had failed in their antics of blackmail and fruitless ploy to pit him against the president, stressing that their ill-fated attempt to diminish the image of the minister will continue to fail.

Woke said the critics’ desperate plot to pass through the backdoor into the Tinubu administration had already failed, saying the president is aware of them and their antics.

Woke said, “Our leader, Nyesom Wike, had in a recent media chat where he informed Nigerians on the activities of FCT administration and, of course, arising from a question asked by one of the panellists, he talked about politics in Rivers State.

“Rather than addressing those issues, what we are seeing is name calling, people trying to malign the person of the FCT minister and trying to blackmail him to see whether they can cause any disagreement between and the president, of course, they will not succeed.”