Ex-Lawmaker Cautions Gov Fubara, Says It’s Vendetta To Probe Wike

BY ONYEKACHUKWU IBEZIM – A Former lawmaker, Senator Olaka Nwogu has cautioned Governor Siminalayi Fubara of Rivers State against probing the administration of the immediate past governor, Nysom Wike to avoid escalating the ongoing crisis in the oil-rich state.

Senator Nwogu, who represented the Rivers South-East Senatorial district in the National Assembly (NASS) from March 2015 to December 2015, said attempting to initiate any probe at this stage of the crisis would be viewed as vendetta.

Nwogu told journalists in Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital on Monday that such a probe would never be objective given that Governor Fubara and his predecessor, Wike ran the same administration.

Insisting that the governor’s plot to investigate the past administration would be a mere witch-hunt, the 59-year-old politician said while Wike was the governor, Fubara was the gatekeeper and there is no way such probe would not be selective to advance a particular narrative and interest.

While describing the probe move as diversionary, Nwogu said; “It is preconceived to hoodwink people to think the other way. How is Wike and Fubara different? They ran the same government. One was the gatekeeper of the other. This is going to be very selective.

“If you want to probe the past administration, on which records? The person setting up the panel is also the record keeper. What will be put before are they selective, are they doctored? This is just the most absurd of all the absurdities”.

The former lawmaker further said; “This is an attempt to criminalise a good governor that was the envy of the entire nation. We should be careful about how far we escalate this. Let me urge for caution and ask people to be mindful”, adding that the sin the former governor committed was making Fubara a governor.

“With what is happening, it has become obvious that the Minister has been the victim and not the aggressor. All the time they say the governor is a victim, and the Minister is the aggressor. But if you look carefully, you will understand right from the beginning all the Minister did was to make him a governor. So, he has been at the receiving end. So, he is a victim of an unwarranted and undesired attack. This agenda is unfolding and it is a very terrible agenda of our state. This is the direction.”

Also stating that the present disposition of the governor has negated all the peace overtures and spat on President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the former lawmaker said; “There is nothing extraordinary about investigation except that in the circumstances we find ourselves it will not appear as something done to promote good governance.

“It appears as designed for a witch-hunt or to endorse a particular label already put on somebody. Recall that when this started they started saying that the Minister was asking for a certain percentage of money which is not true.

“It was dealt with when the governor came to meet with the elders and we met with the Minister where he recanted most of the things he wrongly labeled the Minister as part of the reconciliation process. This completely negated the instructions the President gave and the mediatory efforts of the President.

“By his present disposition, the governor is saying that the President wasted his time. It is something Rivers people must be careful about. is a direct spite of the President. If he chooses to abandon the eight-point agenda and pursue this course, it means he has no respect for the President’s intervention.”

Nwogu further cautioned thus; “This is an unnecessary escalation. It tenses the place up. As a governor do your job. You will be judged by the infrastructures you provide but if you think that fighting people will add to your scorecard, let us see how.”

Nwogu was a member of the House of Representatives from 1999 until 2011 on the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)’s platform where he represented the constituency of Tai–Eleme–Oyigbo. Before being elected to the House, he served as Mayor (chairman) of Eleme local government area in Rivers State.

In March 2015, he won the election to represent the Rivers South-East Senatorial district in the National Assembly with 408,353 votes, defeating incumbent Senator Magnus Abe of the All Progressives Congress (APC). However, his duty tour at the Red Chamber was shortlived as he later lost in the tribunal