Minister of Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, confirmed his involvement in the crisis rocking Rivers State, saying it is a struggle to maintain his political relevance.
The relationship between Wike and Governor Siminalayi Fubara, his successor, went sour less than six months after handover resulting in the botched attempt to impeach Fubara.
The high point of the crisis was the burning down of the chamber of the State House of Assembly on Sunday night and the subsequent move to impeach the Governor.
Fubara, despite the firing of water canon and gas on him by a Police contingent, stormed the Complex on Monday alongside his supporters, vowing to fight the impeachment threat.
On Tuesday, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu reportedly waded into the crisis by meeting the duo of Wike and Fubara at the end of the first parley of the National Police Council at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
Wike and Fubara are of the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
The former Governor of Rivers State, Wike, sounded unrepentant on moves to topple his successor while receiving South-South leaders at the FCT Minister’s office in Abuja after the meeting in the Villa.
Emphasizing the importance of holding his base to maintain his political relevance, the Minister stated that once he loses his base as a politician, he has lost relevance.
He explained that no amount of calumny leveled against him would make him lose sleep, adding that the right thing must be done.
According to Wike: “All of us want to be politically relevant. All of us want to maintain our political structure. Is it not your political structure? Will you allow anybody to just cut you out immediately? Everybody has a base. If you take my base, am I not politically irrelevant?.
“In politics, there are a lot of internal wrangling. But to come out and say ‘Oh they want to do this against me, it will not work.’ I had every power then to say where this thing is going.
“So, when things are wrong, you ask questions. It is a party affair. The party knows how they resolve their own mechanism. It is not an ethnic affair.
“Our party is coming to it. That is what I will say. Every politician has his own interest.”