FCT Minister Nyesom Wike has sharply responded to Rivers State Governor Siminalayi Fubara, escalating their public political rift days into the New Year. The exchange followed comments made at the New Year banquet on Thursday, where Governor Fubara, in a veiled remark directed at Wike, said, “if you have a dog in your house and it knows you, does it need to bark?” The governor’s statement was widely interpreted as a response to the renewed hostility between him and his former political mentor.
Addressing residents of Ogba/Egbema/Ndoni (ONELGA) on Friday, Wike replied with a direct counter, insisting that Fubara’s rise to power was enabled by his political machinery. Leaving the quotes intact, the minister said: “This dog that’s barking now barked, even when Rivers people didn’t know who the person was and the dog that barked made the person to be governor when others ran away… he’s not afraid that the same dog now is barking. I wish him goodluck.” Wike also reaffirmed his faction’s support for President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, declaring that past electoral errors would not be repeated while dismissing the influence of Atiku Abubakar’s former allies in Rivers politics.