Minister of State for Education, Mr. Nyesome Wike is a threat to democracy and should be sacked for his utterances which border on breaching peace, incitement and partisan campaign, Rivers State chapter of the National Councillors Forum of Nigeria, said on Wednesday.
In a release issued in Port Harcourt and co-signed by Chairman of the group, Hon. Lesor Nwigbaranee and Publicity Secretary, Hon. Dagogo Humphrey, they lamented that Wike has been inciting fights against Governor Amaechi’s supporters, making the state ungovernable for the governor and threatening the governor that he will not sleep with his two eyes closed.
According to the forum, Wike sometime ago donated his salaries for six months, to ex-militant leader Tompolo and organised ex-militants to demonstrate on the streets of Port Harcourt, thereby giving the impression to other militants that their activities are approved by highly placed powers.
“This could have encouraged the instances of kidnapping, such as the recent one, which occurred in Buguma where some expatriates working for the Rivers State Fish Farm were abducted,” the statement said.
“We frown at a situation where the minister has brazenly declared his ambition to be the governor of the state and had gone ahead to campaign for the office in flagrant disregard to INEC regulation. The honourable action expected of the minister was to resign to enable him further his ambition and in the absence of that, the president should sack him.”
The forum added that in the past, no president has allowed his ministers to combine their ministerial position and ambition. They cited Obasanjo’s era, when ministers with ambition were asked to resign. They also recalled that President Jonathan has also asked such ministers to resign and pursue their ambition fully but this appears to be double-speaking. They urged the president to sack the minister, as his actions give an impression that he has the backing of the president for his actions.
“In as much as the forum is not against his political ambition as a citizen of the country and as allowed by the constitution, he should not hide at the back of his ministerial position and that of the federal government to threaten the peace and security of the state.
“Rivers people, the nation and the international community are watching the rascal behaviour of the minister and it would be difficult for the president to exculpate himself from the actions and utterances of the minister. We urge the president to save what remains of his face by sacking Wike now in the interest of our nascent democracy.”
But in a rebuttal released also on Wednesday, the leadership of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the state passed a vote of confidence on Wike, saying the party has watched and participated in his activities from 2011 when was appointed minister of state for education till date and is satisfied with his manner of piloting the affairs of the party in the state.
Signed by Special Adviser on Media to the State Chairman Jerry Needam, the statement argued that the support and leadership of the minister has ensured the success and growth of the party in the state, a record that cannot be faulted or challenged by anyone in the area.
“It is in the light of this that the party appealed to the president, Dr Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, to discountenance unfounded claims and speculations by a faceless group on Honourable Minister of State for Education, Barr. Nyesom Wike, and continue to trust and encourage him even with higher responsibilities in acknowledgement of his contributions to the party and sustenance of our democracy,” the party chairman said.
The party expressed disapproval of a document believed to have emanated from the supposedly impeached Deputy Speaker of the Rivers State House of Assembly, Mr. Leyii Kwanee, in which a “non-existing group under the aegis of the National Councillors Forum of Nigeria, Rivers State chapter” called for the Wike’s sack.
“The party is not happy that the former deputy speaker is using state funds and resources in executing projects and taking actions in dragging the name of a man who has done well in the state to the mud,” the statement went on.
“We warn Mr. kwanee and his allies to desist from using pseudo names in playing politics of calumny against the PDP and the leader of the party in the State, Barr. Nyesom Wike. The party views Mr. Kwanee’s action as retrogressive and undemocratic and calls on him and his co-travellers to stop forthwith such defamatory actions, otherwise drastic and disciplinary actions will be taken against him by the party.”