A chieftain of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), Hilliard Etta, has categorically stated that the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, is not a member of the party and cannot dabble into the affairs of the party.
Etta made this statement on Tuesday when he appeared as a guest in an interview on ‘Prime Time’, a programme on Arise Television.
He was reacting to the impasse between Wike and the National Secretary of the APC, Ajibola Basiru, a few days ago.
Recall that Wike had issued a stern warning to Basiru against interfering in Rivers State politics following his public comments in support of Governor Siminalayi Fubara.
Reacting, Etta said that the APC National Secretary was right in defending the integrity of the APC and Fubara.
“I like the fact that Wike gets his job done. I like his type of politics. As governor of Rivers State, he got his job done. As FCT Minister, he still gets his job done. He is a man I have a lot of respect for.
“But whether I have that type of perception of him or not, he remains not a member of our party and so cannot dabble into the affairs of our party. So the National Secretary was right in all material particular in defending the integrity of the party.
“I think that if you put it in a proper perspective the National Secretary was just doing his job. The leadership of the party is put in place to protect the interests of the party. That’s one of the things that they need to do in office and the National Secretary did exactly that.
“Wike referred to Fubara a so-called governor and he pre-determined whether the man was going to be re-elected or not. I think it’s not in his place to so do. And it was correct for the National Secretary to first of all correct him and then put in a proper perspective on the position of the party.
“The position of the party is that Governor Fubara, having been elected by the people of Rivers State, deserves the respect of every party member in the country,” Etta said.
