PANDEF chair: Patience Jonathan rolled on the floor begging her husband to make Wike governor

Godknows Igali, chairman of the Pan Niger Delta Forum (PANDEF), says Patience Jonathan, the former first lady, pleaded for Nyesom Wike to become governor of Rivers state.

Speaking on Focus Nigeria, a political programme on AIT, Igali claimed the former first lady went as far as rolling on the floor to persuade her husband, former President Goodluck Jonathan, and Edwin Clark, an influential south-south leader who died on February 17.

Wike, now the minister of the federal capital territory (FCT), served as Rivers state governor between 2015 and 2023.

His recent comments have put him at odds with PANDEF. On March 12, during a media chat, the minister accused the group of seeking favours from President Bola Tinubu during a visit to the presidential villa.

In response, Igali, a former permanent secretary at the federal ministry of water resources, defended PANDEF, saying the delegation included senior traditional rulers, former governors, senators, and ministers.

He said it was “highly regrettable and totally unacceptable” that Wike would “exhibit such brazen disrespect towards individuals of this standing”.

“We used to organize retreats for new ministers, and one of the things we taught them was the code of ethics — to be ethical, to be decent. Not to behave, dance around, shout at people, and use the wrong words on elders. We are still Africans, for goodness’ sake,” Igali said.

“The minister should be called to order. You see, this has many implications because, first, it sends the wrong message.

“And the people of the Niger Delta — some of the traditional rulers — call me and said, ‘Ambassador Igali, did you take us to the villa to be insulted this way? Do you know that I retired from the army in 1975? Where was that minister?’ I said, ‘Sorry, sir, that was not my intention’.

“So, let us keep talking. Come, let us talk. You are my brother, you are part of PANDEF. You came there to meet PANDEF when you wanted to be governor. You knelt before Chief Edwin Clark. I was in the other room in the house.

“Patience Jonathan rolled on the floor to beg President Jonathan to make you governor. Some of the people — Chief A.K. Horsfall, Alabo Graham-Douglas, who is now late, and the traditional ruler of Etche — were not on board.

“They said, ‘Look, Rivers State has a precarious political situation. We balance politics — riverine, Delta, the Ogonis. We have to go down like that.’ They said no.

“Patience Jonathan said, ‘We want Wike to be governor at all costs.’ But it was the turn of someone from the riverine side. She begged. And she is alive. She rolled on the ground to beg Chief Clark and others on your behalf.”

During his media chat, Wike claimed that an Ijaw candidate could not have won the Rivers governorship election without his backing, as the group is the “minority of minorities”.

Igali refuted the statement, recalling that when the military moved against Wike in Okrika, “it was Ijaw women who defended him”.