Chairman of the Rivers Elders Council, Chief Ferdinand Alabraba, has declared that the decision of the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Barrister Nyesom Wike, to back President Bola Ahmed Tinubu in the 2023 presidential election was a lifeline that kept Rivers State politically afloat.
Alabraba made the assertion on Tuesday in Abonnema, Akuku-Toru Local Government Area of Rivers State, during Wike’s thank-you visit to the area.
The elder statesman described Wike as a dominant force in Nigeria’s contemporary politics, praising his courage, political foresight and pragmatic leadership style.
According to him, Wike took two far-reaching decisions in 2023 that significantly altered Rivers State’s political trajectory, foremost among them the emergence of an Ijaw governor after 24 years.
“When you were concluding your tenure, your thoughts were for Rivers State. You took two critical decisions. First, you sacrificed everything, fought many battles and enthroned a successor from the Ijaw ethnic nationality — a crown that eluded the Ijaw people for 24 years,” Alabraba said.
He described the apparent lack of appreciation from Governor Siminalayi Fubara as an aberration, stressing that ingratitude was alien to the Ijaw people.
“What we are seeing in Rivers State today is an aberration. The Ijaw, as rightly said by others, are not ungrateful people,” he stated.
Alabraba identified Wike’s second defining decision as his choice to align Rivers State with Tinubu’s presidential bid in 2023, even while retaining control of other elective positions within his party.
“That singular decision is what has kept Rivers State afloat today,” he emphasised.
He assured Wike of sustained support from Rivers people, noting that the state’s political direction ahead of the 2027 general elections was already clear.
“Let me assure you, Rivers people know where to go. With Wike, 2027 under the Renewed Hope agenda is the way to go,” Alabraba declared.
In his response, Wike thanked Rivers people for standing by him in 2023, despite the widespread doubts that trailed Tinubu’s candidacy at the time.
Speaking on the political situation in the state, the former governor said he was determined to correct what he described as a mistake made in 2023, while openly pledging his support for Tinubu’s re-election in 2027.
“Here, we have shut the door. No other person other than Bola Ahmed Tinubu,” Wike said.
