Naturally, a former national chairman of the People’s Democratic Party, Uche Secondus, and the minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, should be allies in arms fighting for a common cause as they are both members of the same party, but the escalating war of words they continue to engage in have shown that there is no love lost between them.
Politics is at the centre of their frosty relationship and judging by the constant onslaught of vitriolic attacks they have been heaping on each other over the past few years, coupled with the inalienable fact that a general elections season that will determine their fate is forthcoming, the animosity between them will not let up anytime soon.
Wike, a serving minister in Nigeria’s governing party – the All Progressives Congress, and Secondus are, as they would have Nigerians believe, members of the PDP. The two men are also from Nigeria’s oil-rich Rivers State and it is there that the similarity ends.
A political analyst, Benedict Njoku, told The Point “Wike and Secondus are card-carrying members of the PDP. They are also from Rivers State in the Niger Delta. However, even if their lives depended on it, I am sure they don’t want any other thing to connect them together
“It is disturbing that Wike and Secondus are still at each other’s throat. This is why I view Nigeria as the headquarters for politics of bitterness that is ingrained in our DNA.
“Imagine what collaboration between them would have done for Rivers State. Imagine the growth and development that would have accrued to the state if those two politicians buried the hatchet.
“Well, those who are benefiting from the dispute know themselves. And if I may add, it is certainly not the people of the state that are smiling.”
For the record, the story of Wike, who is originally from Obio-Akpor Local Government Area, and Secondus, from Andoni Local Government Area, has not always been characterised by bile and bitterness.
There is also a history of a close-knit political fraternity between them, which came with the usual wining and dining that epitomise most political parapoism, to borrow the word of a former member of the National Assembly, Patrick Obahiagbon.
Secondus used to be the Chairman of the Rivers State chapter of the PDP before he became the National Chairman of the party in 2017 and he is believed, in political circles, to have achieved this feat with Wike’s support.
To his credit, some analysts have given Secondus plaudits, saying that under his guidance and leadership, the PDP experienced its golden age as an opposition party.
His chairmanship took a surprise twist when, a few weeks to the expiration of his tenure, he was suspended from office in August 2021, courtesy of his ward and a Rivers State High Court that affirmed the decision.
Secondus’ kinsmen in the PDP, ward 5, Ikuru town, Andoni LGA said the leadership of the party at the ward suspended him due to his failure in attracting development to the area within the period of his stay at the national level.
The “truth” about the suspension was for some time seemingly off limits to Nigerians until Wike rekindled the embers of political tit-for-tat between himself and Secondus when he, in 2022, began to reveal the reasons why his foe was sacked.
Some analysts are of the view that Wike, even though the reasons he adduced are not consistent, decided to go for the jugular because of his failed presidential ambition.
Wike, for all it was worth, contested the PDP presidential primary in 2022 but lost to the eventual winner, Atiku Abubakar, a Northerner.
“It is only the 2027 general elections that will resolve the rift between Wike and Secondus”
Wike then asked another former PDP chairman, Iyochia Ayu, who happened to be Secondus’ successor, to step down from the position since he is from the North.
According to Wike, it was unthinkable that the party’s presidential flag-bearer and the national chairman hailed from the same region.
But Ayu refused to heed Wike’s advice, and the former Governor felt slighted and declared that, going forward, he would fight the former PDP chairman – including his supporters – to a standstill.
Secondus was a strong supporter of both Ayu and Atiku and it was obvious that a confrontation with Wike would not be ruled out.
So, to rile Secondus up, Wike first said in August 2022 that his opponent was sacked as chairman of the party because he performed below the expectations of the PDP members.
The following month in September, he told newsmen that Secondus was asked to leave office in order to pave the way for the South to produce a PDP presidential candidate.
And just this year, while addressing his followers and members of the PDP in Port Harcourt in October, Wike said he kicked Secondus out of the party because as National Chairman, he (Secondus) wanted to bring his cousin, Tele Ikuru, to run for the governorship position of the state.
Secondus, too, has taken up the gauntlet. He has been responding in kind to the heavy artillery fire by Wike.
One such incident where he was willing to stand up to Wike was when some allies of the former Governor took a controversial trip, albeit before the last presidential election, to meet Atiku in Abuja and Wike breathed fire and thunder against them for their actions.
Wike also said he would crush all those associating and conniving with Secondus in support of the then PDP Presidential candidate, Atiku.
Secondus defended the “erring” allies, telling Wike that he would not be Governor forever and that power was transient.
A couple of months before the 2023 presidential election, Wike had, during the commissioning of the Eneka-Igbo Etche Road project, accused Secondus of failing to execute the contracts he got from the state government.
Wike also alleged that in some instances, Secondus fully got the contract sum but failed to complete the projects.
In his own defence, Secondus, who said that Wike lied against him, clarified that he had never been a contractor and never bid for or collected any contract from the state as alleged by Wike.
Things did not get better from there.
And this is because when Wike was dilly dallying about making a decision on which presidential candidate he supported, Secondus said he (Wike) did not have the right to impose any presidential candidate on Rivers people.
Wike took exception to Secondus’ stance and reminded anyone who cared to listen that Secondus was under a suspension and was, therefore, a “meddlesome interloper” who did not have a say in the affairs of the PDP.
Wike also called Secondus names like “technical adviser to Atiku” and “saboteur” and alleged that the former chairman collected money meant for project works in the state during the tenure of former Governor Peter Odili.
On May 29, 2023, Wike handed over the reins of power to his chosen successor, Siminalayi Fubara, but currently, both men don’t see eye to eye and just like when two elephants fight, it is the state that has been suffering for it.
Secondus has accused Wike of working against the state ever since Fubara took charge of it. He said Wike is hurt because the governor blocked all loopholes that could grant the former Governor access to the revenues in the coffers of the state.
Like Secondus, some other so-called Rivers elders are also supporting Fubara.
They are a former Minister of Transportation, Abiye Sekibo; a former Director-General of the PDP Presidential Campaign Council in Rivers, Lee Maeba; a former Governor of the State, Celestine Omehia, and a former Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Austin Okpara.
Wike, unfazed, called the men “expired politicians” and accused them of not supporting Fubara during the Governorship election that brought him (Fubara) to power.
Secondus, ever rearing to go, replied Wike by describing him as “a pathological liar” and “mastermind of outright falsehood.”
Last week, Secondus was at the Saro-Wiwa Polytechnic in Bori Town, venue of the inauguration of 13.985 kilometers Bori internal roads project in Khana Local Government Area, and he used the opportunity to urge Fubara on.
Although Secondus did not mention Wike’s name at the event, he however asked how those “shouting in Abuja” were made. He answered his own question by stating that “It is God and some of us and the leaders that are seated here today” that made it possible.”
A Chartered Accountant and political commentator, Ifeoma Ogbonna, in her reaction told The Point, “It is only the 2027 general elections that will resolve the rift between Wike and Secondus.
“If Wike manages to give the governorship seat to his new anointed candidate, it will mean that he has beaten Fubara, Secondus and the other Rivers elders and he will be forever immortalized in the State.
“The 2027 general elections, especially the governorship election in Rivers State, will ruffle a lot of feathers and send many actors to early retirement. It will also be the hour of decision for all the contenders and pretenders in Rivers State.
“For the time being, Nigerians should continue to enjoy the Wike-Secondus feud. It is not going to end now and no amount of prayer points on the issue can change the minds of those two dramatis personae.”
