The sabre rattling between Rivers State Governor, Siminalayi Fubara, and his embittered godfather, Nyesom Wike, got louder, Friday, as a former Wike supporter and predecessor, ex-Governor Peter Odili, openly endorsed and declared Fubara as the political leader of the state.
In a report monitored on Channels Television, Odili, who served between 1999 and 2007, praised the maturity of Fubara in the face of unwarranted provocation, and his doggedness at defending the interests of the people.
Asking Fubara to stand firm as the people of Rivers were with him, Odili declared the governor as the political leader of the oil-rich South-South state having secured his electoral victory both through the ballot and the courts, is now.
This position was supported by Mrs. Ibim Semenitari, a former Commissioner for Information in the state as well as ex-MD of the Niger Delta Development Commission, NDDC, who said the constitution was very clear on who the political leader is.
Like Odili, Semenitari also praised the maturity and patience of Fubara in the face of provocation.
Odili made the declaration on Thursday at the commissioning of a Primary Healthcare Centre donated by his PAMO Foundation in his hometown, Ndoni, in the 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. He urged Governor Fubara to act with this awareness in all its decision.
Odili assessed Fubara’s performance so far and 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 noted that Fubara’s administration is 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 this alignment with the President and his policies to attract federal government attention and support to the state.
Many analysts see the development as a big blow to FCT Minister, Nyesom Wike, who has been working desperately to see Fubara out of the Government House in Port Harcourt.
They posit that the FCT Minister may suffer serious humiliation against the groundswell of resistance by the people of Rivers against his alleged meddlesomeness in the affairs of the state.