Nyesom Ezenwo Wike, the governor of Rivers State, dissolved his cabinet as part of a calculated political masterstroke to impose his preferred governorship candidate in 2023.
Though Wike has not stated who he wants to succeed him as governor, a source told the Daily Post that he is considering Hon. Fubara Siminayi, the state’s Accountant-General, and Hon. Tammy Danagogo, the Secretary to the State Government, SSG.
However, as Wike, a presidential candidate for the opposition Peoples Democratic Party, mulls his succession plan unilaterally, investigations reveal that the majority of the sacked members of the state cabinet are opposed to the idea.
Wike appears unlikely to tolerate internal opposition, owing to the fact that personal or group interests are a major compass of politics.
The sacking of cabinet members was said to be a tactical move to allow him to assemble a new formidable assemblage of trusted loyalists ready to reassure him of their allegiance and work diligently toward the realization of his 2023 agenda.
When contacted, the Rivers state spokesman of the All Progressives Congress, APC, Hon. Chris Finebon said the sudden political development was high-wire politics.
In his words, “What is happening is high-wire politics. It is more a result of the internal politics in Rivers State.
“His own quest to impose his own governorship candidate will not go down well with a good number of his stalwarts.
“He, therefore, calculated to go for the kill. The idea of imposition will make a lot of his strongmen angry.
“That is why he decided to set up a ‘war cabinet’ for the remaining months of his tenure to come in with new gusto and hunger to work for his success and for the success of whomever he wants to run as PDP gubernatorial candidate.
“Those who are opposed may not work. But those who are economically disabled among the sacked commissioners, may beg the governor to come back”.
But when grilled, the immediate past Information Commissioner, Hon. Paulinus Nsurin said, “When the cabinet has been dissolved, how can I still remain the state spokesman.
“I’m not in his mind. The action is statutory. Some Governors have been dissolving their state cabinets across the country”.
Still, some political watchers said the cabinet dissolution did not come to them as a surprise.
An anonymous insider said, “Any keen observer of Gov Wike’s brick and mortar style of governance should always expect him to exhibit a preference for self-interest above the common good.
“He started by disengaging the sanitation authorities without replacement – an action that has turned Port Harcourt into the refuse/garbage capital of the world as I write.
“While we are all burdened by the stench in Port Harcourt, the governor decided to dissolve his cabinet and send his appointees home at a critical time when governance deficit has become the order of the day in the state.
“We are not surprised because the governor places a high premium on politics over governance. We don’t call him an accidental governor for nothing.
“His latest action is to enable him raise a new army of supporters out of the aggrieved followers occasioned by the governor’s politics of imposition.”