RIVERS-BASED politician Dakuku Peterside on Wednesday publicly declared his political tribe in the oil-rich South-South state, saying he does not belong to the camp of the former governor and current Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike.
Instead, Peterside, a former Director General of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), said he aligns with Wike’s predecessor and estranged former godfather Rotimi Amaechi.
“I am a friend to Rotimi Amaechi,” the former All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship hopeful said on Channels Television’s Politics Today programme on Wednesday monitored by News Point Nigeria.
“I am not on the side of Nyesom Wike,” Peterside submitted, adding that he is also not politically aligned with Governor Siminalayi Fubara.
He, however, said he was ready to provide advice for the incumbent governor on how to move the state forward.
“When Nyesom Wike was governor, recall that I was doing open letters to him consistently, giving him my advice. I did that for some time. If Governor Fubara seeks my advice, of course, I am willing to give that, like many governors,” he said.
Rivers is one of the politically charged states in Nigeria, a situation which could be attributed to the chunk votes and fat purse of the oil-rich state.
Like a coat of many colours, fragmented political camps make up the diverse and intrigue-filled state dominated by pugilists in the APC and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) where the incumbent governor belongs.
Leaders of the camps include Wike, a PDP powerbroker and two-term governor of the state from May 2015 to May 2023. Another political gladiator in the state is Amaechi, a former APC presidential hopeful and ex-transport minister who previously governed the state from May 2007 to May 2015.
There are also those loyal to Fubara and former governor Peter Odili; while former PDP national chairman Uche Secondus; Magnus Abe; and Tonye Cole; amongst others, have their die-hard followers too. For over a decade, political crises have been siamese to the state with followers of the various camps always at loggerheads.
