Threat to “set fire” to PDP controlled states: Edwin Clark wants Wike tried for treason

Emmanuel Nlewedum, Port Harcourt

Elder statesman and the Leader of the Niger Delta, Chief Edwin Clark on Thursday called on the Inspector-General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun, to arrest the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike for him to face treason charges.

He was reacting to the threat by Wike to set fire on the states controlled by Governors of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), after their visit to Governor Siminalayi Fubara of Rivers State.

He also clarified his earlier position in 2015 to quit partisan politics.

“I made that statement that I will quit partisan politics in Akure in 2015. But unfortunately something happened when I got to Abuja. What I’m saying today is outside party politics. While I’m still alive, I’ll say it before I leave. I fear nobody except God”, Clark said.

According to Arise News,

Clark in a letter to Egbetokun, read to journalists in Abuja called on President Bola Ahmed Tinubu not to allow his personal relationship with Wike to jeopardize national interest.

He reminded the IGP of his constitutional duty to uphold the law and order without partiality.

Clark stressed that Wike’s threats not only pose a danger to public peace but also amount to incitement, a serious crime under Nigerian law.

Citing several legal provisions, including the Public Officer Protection Act and the Violence Against Persons Protection Act, Clark called for Wike’s immediate arrest and prosecution.

He said, “Wike has committed treason, he should be arrested with warrant. Wike believes that the only person he respects is the President. Today, Wike is controlling everything, including the judiciary.

“Wike is already dancing naked in the market place, with one leg in the PDP and one left in the APC. Either he wants a structure to protect the money he has stolen in Rivers State or for something else.

“That’s why I am calling on the IGP to investigate Wike, otherwise Nigeria will be in serious trouble. The youths of the States he threatened to set on fire won’t sit down and watch him do that.”

He expressed disappointment that a serving Minister under President Bola Ahmed Tinubu could make such inflammatory statements.

“It is a flagrant disrespect on the person of President Tinubu and a threat to public peace,” Clark wrote, questioning Wike’s moral authority and demanding accountability for his actions.

He also criticized Wike’s alleged accumulation of wealth during his time in office as governor of Rivers State, questioning the sources of his wealth and accusing him of using state resources for personal advantages.

He called for a thorough investigation into Wike’s finances and property acquisitions, particularly in Rivers State and Abuja.

Clark called on PDP leaders and Nigerians who value justice and peace to stand united against Wike’s “inordinate ambition” to control the political structure of Rivers State.

He called on all concerned parties to uphold the party’s constitution and use all constitutional means to resist any unlawful actions by the FCT Minister.

.As Rivers Elders writes Tinubu, IGP

.Urges President to direct IGP to unlock LG secretariats

Also, a group, known as the Rivers Elders and Leadership Forum has called on President Bola Tinubu to call the Minister of Federal Capital Territory, FCT, Nyesom Wike to order over his threat to cause unrest in all states in the country led by PDP governors.

The FCT Minister, Nyesom Wike had while speaking at the PDP State Congress held in Port Harcourt last Saturday, warned governors elected on the platform of the PDP, under the aegis of PDP Governors’ Forum, supporting their colleague in Rivers State, Governor Siminalayi Fubara in the ongoing political crisis in the state, to steer clear of Rivers politics, or face crisis in their various states at his behest.

The Rivers elders described Wike’s threat to “put fire” in states whose governors opposed to him as “callous, mischievous, unacceptable, and a clear undermining of democracy and national security.”
They regretted that the utterances by the FTC Minister is capable of posing serious security threat to the peace and democracy in the country, as well as the unity and progress of Rivers State, and Nigeria.

These and other positions of the Rivers Elders and Leadership Forum were contained in a letter written to President Bola Tinubu urging him to intervene on Wike.

The letter was read by Chairman of the forum and former Rivers State Governor, Chief Rufus Ada-George while addressing a press conference in Port Harcourt on Thursday.

The letter reads in part: “We believe that Chief Wike should be made to realize the importance of the high office he holds and the responsibility expected of him by the Nigerian State… His threats to ‘put fire’ in states are unacceptable and undermine our democracy and national security.

“That some states expressed support for the Rivers State Governor, Siminalayi Fubara, and called on his party’s NWC to grant him his “rightful” position as the leader of the party in the state does not earn them the verbal threats, Wike is unleashing on them.

“We therefore condemn, in its entirety, the language, the environment and the insults meted out to their Excellencies which we consider as an indirect assault on them. These bully tactics, are the hallmarks and characteristics of Nyesom Wike.”
The Elders also appealed to the President to direct the Inspector General of Police to unlock the twenty three Local Government Councils Offices of State and withdraw policemen who have barricaded the Secretariats for over two months now, to allow for a smooth and unhindered operation and delivery of democratic dividends to the people at the third tier of Government.

The Forum also urged the FCT Minister, Wike to refrain from claiming to own the political structure in Rivers State, noting that the structure he arrogates to himself belongs to Rivers people.

Chairman of the forum, Chief Rufus Ada-George who read the communique on behalf of the forum said it is unimaginable for Wike to assume that the current and future political structure and generations of leaders in Rivers State belong to him. “He should stop misleading the public with the false narrative of ‘my structure’.”

The communique reads in part, “Wike was once a boy to Senator John Azuta Mbata who paved way for him and introduced him to Chief Rufus Ada George years back, as an intending councillorship aspirant.”

Ada-George stressed that there is no way Wike could rise above those who made him, recalling that it was during his regime in 1992 that Wike was brought to aspire as councillor even though his tenure was truncated by a coup.

“A disciple is not above their teacher, nor a servant above their master.” but if fully taught would be like his master”. Therefore, this servant with his antecedents, is not fully taught, hence, cannot be like his master, much more of owning the structure. The political structure in Rivers State belongs to Rivers people. Wike is just one product of the Rivers political family,” Chief Ada George said.