Wike: Loud in Abuja, loud in Rivers - The Nation
The outcome OF the polls was a twin victory for Nyesom Wike, the man who has continued to affect the politics of Nigeria in a mesmerising manner. Wike seems to loom over everything political across the country, even in states where they say he is not popular. These are states where those not in his political camp hold sway. As much as his political foes try to put him down in their states, he still manages to rise to their utter consternation.
As Federal Capital Territory (FCT) minister, Wike has mastered the art of his high office and married it with his politics both at home in Rivers and outside in Abuja. Last Saturday, council elections and by-elections were held in FCT and in two constituencies in Rivers. The road to the polls was rough and tough, especially in FCT, where the coalition of old and spent politicians threw everything in and not in the books at him for, as they say, personalising the polls.
For them, the Abuja elections were a must win. They must be won to prove a point, and that point is ‘Abuja has always belong to the opposition’. Truly, Abuja does not play by the rules. It has always cut a path for itself in political and other matters. It likes to assert its independence as a standalone capital city without link to any state, principality or power. It does not simply go with the grain. This well known fact has imbued some politicians with the belief that Abuja would, come rain or shine, go the opposition way.
Even without lifting a finger, these politicians believe that no matter who they field that person would always win. This myth was shattered on Saturday. And by who else, than Wike? The poll was a direct contest between Wike and the opposition, especially the fledgling coalition group of African Democratic Congress (ADC), and the rump of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), which at the height of its glory not too long ago, described itself as the largest party in Africa.
Wike leads a faction of the fractious PDP, but he is a diehard loyalist of President Bola Tinubu. He does not hide his support for the President. Wike can be loyal to a fault. If he supports you, he does so to the hilt. He can take a bullet for those he believes in. Time and again, he has shown that he can go to any length when he is fighting a cause. He throws everything into the battle. He saw the Abuja elections as a battle and he fought it as such. Make no mistakes, Wike takes no quarters, and those who have come up against him, can attest to that.
It is better to be for Wike than against him. Only someone like Wike can leave his political base in Rivers where there was also an election (whether by or not, election is election) that same Saturday to face squarely the council polls in Abuja. He cast his own interest in Rivers aside for the sake of the President in Abuja. Wike knew that back home, his flanks are covered, with a strong base that has weathered many political storms with him.
His belief in his support base to take care of the home front gave him the confidence to concentrate on the Abuja polls, without leaving anything to chance. Wike was all over the place before, during and after the elections. He mobilised for the contestants on the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC) who he saw as the President’s candidates. To Wike, he was supporting the President and not APC. He has said times without number that he is not a member of APC, but a supporter of Mr President whose praise he sings at every turn.
Wike rewrote the history of Abuja elections with the performance of the ruling APC in last Saturday’s polls. The ruling party won the elections hands down. It was a landslide as the party won five of the six area council chairmanship seats that were up for grabs. No ruling paŕty has ever done that in the electoral history of Abuja. Wike made known his position on the elections from the outset. Left to him, there would not have been any elections, if he had his way. He wanted all the APC candidates to win unopposed. This was why he appealed to PDP candidates to step down for their APC counterparts.
Some heeded his call, others did not. Wike’s strength as a leader is his ability to identify, organise and deploy assets to further his political interests. He may not always get it right, as we have seen in certain cases, but give it to him, he has the courage of his conviction. Once he sets his mind to something, he goes all out to execute it. The glory of APC’s victory in the Abuja polls goes to him. To borrow the words of a one-time favoured political godson who at the height of his power as governor proclaimed that he was “loud” in two states, Wike is “loud in Abuja and loud in Rivers”. He does not have to boast about it like that politician who fell from grace. It is something he has earned.
Wike today stands astride Abuja and Rivers as a politician who can determine the fate of others. He has come a long way as council chairman, chief of staff, minister, governor and minister, again. Recognising his role in the APC victory, the President said of Wike who he apppointed minister in 2023 that “his remarkable achievements in the territory have yielded political dividends to the governing APC”. It is a fitting tribute. Wike deserves the accolade because he showed class and purpose in the polls in FCT and Rivers. APC cleared the two House of Assembly seats contested for in the Rivers by-election. How else can a politician prove his mettle?
Wike’s victory is the loss of the opposition, especially ADC. Trust him to rub it in. He said the outcome of the poll was a clearcut statement on the status and stature of “the ruling party and the real opposition”. He was in his usual manner needling and calling out the ADC ‘coalitionists’ to see the handwriting on the wall ahead of the 2027 elections, and give up the fight. I do not think they will give him the joy of being called chicken-hearted.
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