ANALYSIS: Wike fires more shots at Ayu as Atiku 'shoots' himself

All the tantrums and bickering we have seen and heard from Rivers State Governor Nyesom Wike over the past few months pales in comparison to what is to come in the coming months . So he said.

The governor said he had just entered politics.

"Not everything I did before is politics. Now I'm doing politics," he said last week.

It was one of many meetings the Governor held and this time he had almost everything he needed to make his usual statements: a microphone, a solemn atmosphere and the right audience - the kind that finishes his sentences and claps after each sentence. The only thing missing from this appointment was his live band.

He wondered why the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) kept sending envoys to him to plead and convince him to support the party's presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar. He maintained that while he won't quit the party, he won't play any role in his presidential campaign unless, of course, his demand is met - national president Iyorchia Ayu resigns.

Earlier, the governor said there would be no peace in the party until Mr. Ayu leaves and fights to the end.

As hard as they try to hide it, Mr. Wike has been a source of concern for Atiku and the party leadership. Although the PDP said the campaigns would continue without Mr. Wike and his other aggrieved governors, Atiku sent several groups to plead with Governor Rivers.

In the penultimate week, the Governor has gone after members loyal to Atiku in Rivers State. He derecognized Celestine Omehia as a former state governor.

In 2007, the Supreme Court removed Mr. Omehia from his position as governor for no offense he committed in person. He had been asked to replace Rotimi Amaechi whom the PDP had disqualified as a candidate for governor. Mr. Omehia easily won this election.

But the Supreme Court later overturned Mr Amaechi's disqualification and declared him the legitimate winner of the election - an election in which he played no part. Mr. Omehia was not officially recognized as a former governor of the state until Mr. Wike took office and recognized him as such.

Now Mr. Wike has changed his mind, describing the recognition as inappropriate. He asked Mr. Omehia to repay every kobo he received as financial rights, amounting to around 600 million naira. His monthly pension of almost 100 million naira was also stopped.

In fact, Mr. Wike's actions over the past two weeks are enough to show how far he is willing to go to thwart the efforts of Atiku and the PDP.

Next is a media chat Mr. Wike had with selected journalists on Friday — the second media chat in three weeks. Many who came across the infomercial knew it was about to talk a bit more about the party and Mr. Ayu.

This generated as much reaction as the financial implications of organizing such media talks. Many Nigerians on social media have wondered why the Governor, who is not running for any political office in the coming year, finds it necessary to always invite the press, pay for airtime and just to fulminate.

This time, Mr. Wike has opened more Pandora's boxes by accusing Mr. Ayu of having received a double salary of 100 million naira from a governor of the PDP and the National Work Committee (NWC) of the left for the same project.

"Actually, let me also tell you that Ayu collected 100 million naira from a governor that he was going to renovate our democratic institute, then he (Ayu) returned to the (PDP) NWC and took the same 100 million naira to do the same job."

He challenged Mr. Ayu to deny it and said he would reveal more details about the double salary, including the name of said governor.

"If people know what we know, if we release what we have, Ayu's children will come to him and say that we are not your children anymore," Wike said.

This is the second time the governor has accused Mr. Ayu of being fraudulent. A few weeks ago, he said Mr Ayu had collected up to 1 billion naira from party members. He also accused Mr. Ayu of bribing some members of the party's national working committee to have them on his side.

Mr. Wike's allegations...