Port Harcourt—Outgoing Rivers State Governor Nyesom Wike has promised not to interfere in the administration of new governor, Sir Siminalayi Fubara.
Wike urged Fubara to be wary of those he said would want to create a rift between him and elders of the state who are expected to guide him as he steers the affairs of the state.
According to the Nation newspaper, the former governor spoke yesterday at a thanksgiving service marking the end of his administration and the inauguration of the new governor at St. Paul’s Cathedral, Diobu, Port Harcourt.
Wike said as he leaves office today, after eight years of meritorious service, he would not interfere in Fubara’s administration if it engenders peace, unity and development of the state.
Facing the incoming governor, he said: “We will not disturb you from running your administration, but we will not allow you to make us cry. We want you to succeed more than us so that when we are passing on the road, we will raise our shoulders and say we told you that he would do better than us.”
The former governor advised Fubara to be firm and decisive in his decisions in the overall interest of the state.
Wike said: “You have to be firm and take decisions. The decisions you will take may not be palatable, and they shouldn’t be palatable to everybody. No one decision you will take and everybody will be happy about it. People will criticise you.”
The former governor his successor to be wary of those he said, for their own selfishness, may want to instigate him to shun Rivers’ elders statesmen and other stakeholders whose counsel would help him to steer the ship of the state.
He said: “You see the way I related with our elders. You see the way we have respected Dr. Peter Odili. The day you run away from them, enemies will catch you. And it is the work of enemies to make sure you don’t succeed.
“You have not been inaugurated. See what they are posting that the governor-elect is quarrelling with the outgoing governor. That is to show you where they are coming from and where they are heading. But I know they will fail. You have been in the system.”
Wike hailed the Rivers State Chief Judge, Justice Simeon Amadi, and House of Assembly Speaker Ikuinyi-Owaji Ibani, for the pleasant relationship that existed between the three arms of government throughout his eight years in the saddle.
