The latest episode in the Wike Series featuring supporting characters is the War between him and the current governor of Rivers State, Siminalayi Fubara, who until recently was his anointed and beloved successor.
The war started a few weeks ago with an attempt by some of the state legislators to impeach Governor Sim, which led to the State Assembly complex burning down. The governor accused Wike of being behind the incident, which escalated rapidly. The Presidency was forced to step in to mediate between both parties. Since then, there has been an uneasy truce better described as a cold war, unlike the blazing furnace it started as.
Today’s skirmish was the defection of 27 out of 33 Rivers State House of Assembly members from the PDP to the APC. The lawmakers have been earlier identified as Wike’s loyalists who were his instruments in the attempt to impeach the governor. A video of some of the lawmakers in a bus singing the new Abuja anthem “On your mandate” while waving the APC flag surfaced on the internet after they announced their intention to jump off the PDP ship.
The factional leader of the lawmakers, one of the current speakers in the house, Martin Amaehwule, on behalf of his comrades, condemned the alleged withholding of funds meant for the management of the assembly by Governor Sim. They claim that the governor is deliberately starving them of the funds to frustrate them and that this and the existing division in PDP are their reasons for cross-carpeting.
There is currently a lot of speculation within and outside Rivers State, many are asking if the Abuja man as Wike is now called will remain in PDP or if he will finally leave malaria for cancer that he once described APC.