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Akinwande Soji-Ojo
Rivers State Governor, Siminalayi Fubara, and Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, on Saturday, threw jibes at each other over power struggle.
Speaking during the funeral of the late Group Chief Executive Officer (GCEO) of Access Holdings Plc, Herbert Wigwe, Fubara questioned the intentions behind political struggles and rivalries which he said “sometimes lead to deaths.”
“This one has to do with our political class. What is all this struggle all about? You want to kill, you want to bury. What is it all about?” the Rivers State Governor asked.
Fubara has been having a running battle with his predecessor and Minister of Federal Capital Territory, Nyesome Wike, over the control of political structures in Rivers state
However, while making remarks at the event, Akpabio recalled his experience in 2006 when he aspired to become the deputy governor of Akwa Ibom State.
The senate president recounted a conversation he had with the then-incumbent deputy governor, who he said discouraged him from vying for the position because the office has no “financial benefits.”
“Governor Fubara, I will answer you. We are not talking politics. In 2006, I wanted to become the deputy governor and the then deputy governor invited me and said this office has no money, there is nothing in it. I don’t know why you still insist on removing me from here and take over.
“So, a woman who went with me said ‘Your Excellency, don’t wait for impeachment, just resign since there is nothing in it’.
“He stood up and started punching the woman. I said Your Excellency, don’t punch the woman, she is telling the truth, there is nothing in it. That’s why I want it because you are too big for it.
“Your Excellency, Governor Fubara, if there is nothing in it, don’t struggle for it. Just resign,” Akpabio said.
Wigwe died in a helicopter crash in the United States alongside his wife, Chizoba, and son, Chizzi, as well as Abimbola Ogunbanjo, the former Group Chairman of Nigerian Exchange Group Plc (NGX Group),
Wigwe was buried alongside his wife and son on Saturday, after a combined funeral service at the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG), Lion of Judah Parish, Isiokpo, Rivers State.
