Erstwhile National Publicity Secretary of the defunct nPDP, Chief Eze Chukwuemeka Eze has admitted that it is within the exclusive preserve of President Bola Tinubu to appoint any Nigerian into his cabinet.
He, however, emphasized that there should be reservations in the case of former Governor of Rivers State, Nyesom Wike.
He described the former Governor as a self-centred politician, whose usurping leadership in the pursuit of selfish, private vendettas portends grave danger to any organization of humans.
He averred that the All Progressives Congress, APC, prides itself as a party rooted in democracy and rule of law and going by that standard, the entrance of Wike into its fold would ordinarily not be easy because the party abhors his type of politics which is clearly antithetical to progress.
Eze said that Wike’s desperate engagements ridiculed the Nigerian system.
“He earned the country a global embarrassment. In saner climes, his likes are subjected to the slammer for their very many crimes.
“If he nurses any interest in joining the APC, just be sure that such interest is not pure; it is definitely for a clandestine purpose as his custom is,” Wike said.
On President Tinubu appointing Wike as a Minister, Eze stated that it would be the greatest political mistake ever envisaged by the President in his political life.
“Nigerians have set a target for the President and they know that Wike does not fit into the caliber of people needed to help him meet the expectations and yearnings of country people as he lacks the minimum record and character prescribed for people who should hold public offices in the present day contemporary Nigeria,” Eze said.
“Check his antecedents, all through his eight-year-reign in Rivers State, the ‘Treasure Base of the Nation’ could not attract any foreign inflow, not one. The State recorded zero investment all through that period.
“He undermined all the basic areas that required attention to grow the state and only channeled energy to building 12 overhead bridges with the biggest media fanfare in the annals of history just to gain cheap popularity.
“What do you think of a man that bragged so much about overhead bridges as legacy projects in this era of technology? Aside those overhead bridges, he cannot point at anything as his achievement in office as Governor.
“The Mother and Child Hospital he built has been under lock and key many years after it was commissioned. That facility has not been able to diagnose a child of any ailment; what about the Peter Odili Cancer and Cardiovascular Diagnosis and Treatment Center?
“That place is being overtaken by grass. He scammed the state of so much money and I wonder what the EFCC is doing till this moment.
“Already, he has a case with the anti-graft agency for the billions of naira he stole as Education Minister during the Jonathan administration.
“He bargained to refund the money and he was refunding N300 million monthly with Rivers money while as Governor before former President Buhari stopped him. That matter is still pending.
“Aside all of that, appointing Wike Minister exposes the fear amongst some of us in the party that Mr. President has a hand in the decimation of APC in Rivers State this past eight years where Wike deployed state resources against the party in the State.
“He used the judiciary to stifle the party. Just the other day, his chief-lobbyist, one Tony Okocha, mentioned that the Rivers State Judiciary became a laughing stock and an object of mockery because Wike used Judges to deal with the Rivers APC during the crisis when he was still Governor. His loyalist made that confession.
“The above notwithstanding, Wike’s emergence as cabinet member will be an insult not only to APC members but also to those faithful who died in the struggle to water and sustain the party in Rivers State all these years.
“But one thing is sure and Mr. President must be wary of it; if Wike could destroy such a great political party like PDP, then destroying both Tinubu and APC will be like sipping a glass of wine.
“If he could abuse and harass his benefactor, Rt. Hon. Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi, then abusing and deriding Tinubu will be like a walk in the park; If he could ignore President Jonathan and his wife after they imposed him on Rivers State and her people as their Governor, then be sure that ignoring Tinubu will not be an issue. 2027 is his target.
“If the President eventually appoints him, we will just cross our fingers and wait for the explosion of the bomb he will use against the APC and the President.”