Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, has threatened to forcefully access the Rivers State stadium after accusing him of denying the renewed hope family access to the Yakubu Gowon Stadium for a rally.
Wike spoke on Friday during the inauguration of the Renewed Hope Coordinators for Rivers’ three senatorial districts and Local Government Areas at the Captain Elechi Amadi Polytechnic in Port Harcourt, the state capital.
The renewed hope family is a group mobilising support for President Bola Tinubu’s re-election bid.
Wike said the organisers had applied to the government for the use of the stadium for the event but were denied approval.
The FCT minister warned that any further attempt to block the group from using the stadium would be met with a forceful takeover of the facility.
“We applied to the state government for the General Yakubu Gowon stadium, but they [Rivers state government] refused us. But let me say: next time, we would do this; if you [government] don’t approve it, we would break it by force,” Wike said.
“So, the coordinator of the state, write again to the state government, choose a day we will inaugurate the ward level. I want to say it for everybody to hear: Enough is enough. We are all from Rivers state; no one can deny us the state’s facilities.
“If you don’t agree to give us, we will do the needful. I will take it by force. Heaven will never fall; even when heaven falls, everywhere will be at peace.
“You cannot have a governor in the state while we are openly declaring support for President Tinubu and he is not aligning. How then do you expect a reward?”
During the 2023 election campaigns, Wike — who refused to support Atiku Abubakar, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) presidential candidate at the time — also denied the former vice-president’s team access to campaign venues in Rivers.
Abubakar eventually campaigned across the country, excluding Rivers state.
Early this month, Wike said all political parties in Rivers have collapsed into a coalition backing Tinubu for a second term.
He has been campaigning against the re-election of Siminalayi Fubara, the governor of Rivers, after accusing him of reneging on an agreement they had signed before Tinubu lifted the emergency rule in Rivers.
Fubara, who defected from the PDP to the All Progressives Congress (APC) in December, is also campaigning for Tinubu’s re-election.
