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On April 29, 2017, Anthony Joshua slogged it out with Wladimir Klitschko at Wembley Stadium in London, England, with Joshua’s IBF and the vacant WBA (Super) and IBO heavyweight titles up for grabs.
The presidential flagbearer of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar and Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers State, is determined to give Nigerians a similar feeling on the political turf as we count down to the 2023 general election golden trophy.
The build-up to the disagreement is the sealing off of Atiku’s campaign office In Port Harcourt, Which he has remained resolute that it is in line with the law provisions in Rivers state.
Wike’s strategy looks like to win via technical knockout (TKO) because he has become the thorn in the flesh of the two major Atiku Abubakar foot soldiers in his state, Senator Lee Maeba and Dr Abiye Sekibo.
Senator Lee Maeba was elected senator for the Rivers State South East constituency on the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) platform from April 2003 to May 2011.
He became a member of the Senate at the age of 37 before being succeeded by Magnus Ngei Abe.
Sources told our correspondent he is one of the state’s trusted hands of Atiku Abubakar.
Another man on Wike’s tracklist is Dr Abiye Sekibo, a former Minister of Transportation appointed in 2003 under former president Olusegun Obasanjo.
Our sources explained that these two political gladiators are Atiku Abubakar’s men in a state controlled by Nyesom Wike, whose “fight with Atiku Abubakar has grown wings lately.
In Wike's view, the two politicians in the state are instigating violence by deliberately violating a state law that prohibits the location of political offices in residential areas of the state.
There is an order in the state called Orders 21 and 22 issued by the Rivers state government under Nyesom Wike.
The keynotes of the laws are that they prohibit posting bills, posters or related materials in unauthorised places.
The law aims to back the enforcement of the Rivers State Outdoor Signage and Advertisement Law.
Governor Wike says his government will jail any politician who disobeys this law in the state.
So, Governor Wike said that the two grassroots mobilisers had acted against the orders, and their political home had been sealed.
He further explained that both politicians have less political pedigree than he in the state.
Therefore, they are not significant stakeholders in the political decisions of the state.
He said the two “Atiku personnel” cited a political office at Igboukwu Street, D-Line, Port Harcourt, without the government’s approval.
At this time, the back-and-forth playing out between Atiku Abubakar and Nyesom Wike has become a strategic bout.
Despite being from the same political party, they have damped into political provocations that have continued to heat the polity, the PDP and Nigerian politics.
The power tussle has become a clash of the titans comparable to that of the Joshua-Kitschko bout because it becomes an issue of political concern every day.
Atiku’s men’s opening of the political office is against Rivers’ state laws.
Governor Wike banned the use of premises, buildings and sundry structures in residential areas as campaign offices by political parties, which he directed to take effect from November 11, 2022.
A Federal High Court in the state even heard the suit t by the All Progressives Congress in the state challenging the Executive Orders.
Whether the seal of the Atiku’s campaign office is strict adherence to the rule of law as claimed by Wike is still debatable.
Some critics believe that the seal is a deliberate clampdown and uppercut on the PDP presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, with whom they have become bitter rivals since Atiku clinched the presidential ticket of the party.
The seal of the office is a manifestation of the clash of the titans.
It has yet to be determined when the clash will go to rest as of the time of compiling this report.
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