The leader of the Ijaw Nation and elder statesman, Edwin Clark, has declared that aside from God, the biggest players, who have supported the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, to rise to his current political position, are the Ijaws, including himself.
He was reacting to a narrative regarding the extent to which Wike has helped the Ijaw people by George Sekibo, leader of newly formed Ijaw Peoples Congress (IPC), when he visited the President General of the Ijaw National Congress (INC), Prof. Benjamin Okaba, in Yenagoa, on Tuesday, June 4, 2024.
Clark, in an open letter addressed to Sekibo, titled: ‘Need for caution on overstating the role of Nyesom Wike with regards to politics in Rivers State as it relates to the Ijaws,’ said that it is rather the Ijaws that made the most sacrifice for Wike’s successes.
The letter, which was copied to the President and Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces, Bola Tinubu, Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), George Akume, and to the Governor of Rivers State, Siminalayi Fubara, also indicated that Wike chose Fubara for his self-interest.
“Let me state that if he did not bring an Ijaw son as governor, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) would have lost woefully in Rivers State, and an Ijaw son from any of the other political parties would have still won.
“It was, therefore, in his own interest that he brought Fubara. Nobody can say that the emergence was overdue and taken for granted already.
“I am sure he knows the roles I have played in his political ascendency. There is, therefore, no need to be apologetic to Wike, when there is no offence.”
He warned the followers and admirers of the former governor to beware, as he is a man that is only loyal to himself and nobody else, irrespective of his feigned allegiance.
“Let me at this juncture, with kind permission of Richard Akinola, refresh your mind on what the average Nigerian thinks of Wike.
“Wike is only loyal to himself and nobody else, irrespective of his feigned allegiance. He may kowtow and genuflect before a political leader, as he is currently doing in Abuja, but once he can no longer use you, he goes into a fit of incoherent vituperative verbal assault, denigrating his benefactors.
“Almost everything that Wike had said in public has been repudiated by him. He is indeed a man of contradiction and inconsistencies.”
