Former Rivers State Governor Nyesom Wike, who had once vowed that godfatherism would fail in Rivers State, is now facing criticism for reportedly seeking to influence the administration of his successor, Governor Siminalayi Fubara.
Wike, who served as governor from May 2015 to May 2023 and is now the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), had in a 2020 interview insisted that godfatherismmay have succeeded in Lagos State but would not work in Rivers.
At the time, he also publicly supported Godwin Obaseki’s governorship bid in Edo State after Obaseki had parted ways with his political godfather, Adams Oshiomhole.
Since leaving office, however, Wike has been perceived as attempting to shape political outcomes in Rivers, prompting debate over his earlier pledge not to interfere with state affairs after his tenure.
“It may happen in Lagos State but it will not happen in Rivers. We are quite different,” he said.
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Wike continued, “As governor, I will come and go, I can’t stop it. I must come and go. Odili (referring to Peter Odili who was the state governor from 1999 to 2007) came and he left. You have never heard Odili saying that you will do this, you will not that. The day my tenure by the grace of God finishes, I will go.
“When you are in a position to think that what is happening in Lagos State, we will do it here; it may be difficult. You cannot continue to say you must be godfather of the state; that is the problem. It is not possible.
“The day I leave here in the name of the Almighty God, I have no business to say I must,” produce my successor, “why must I produce? Why? What have I hidden? People of the state should be able to say this is who they want to produce.”
