- Safiu Kehinde
The Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Minister, Nyesom Wike, has replied Rivers State Governor, Siminalayi Fubara, over his ‘barking dog’ remark he believed to be aimed at him.
NPO earlier Reported that Fubara had at the 2026 New Year Banquet with Rivers stakeholders cited the barking dog quote by legendary Roman leader, Julio Caesar, in allaying concern over his revived feud with Wike.
While he had directly mentioned the FCT Minister’s name, Fubara urged the stakeholders not to be carried away by the current situation.
He maintained that necessary arrangements have been made to ensure smooth run of the year 2026.
“Let us not be fooled by whatever is happening. Caeser, in one of his quotes, said the only why the dog barks us when it doesn’t understand.
“If you have a dog in your house and it knows you, does it need to bark?
“When the dog starts barking, maybe it’s seeing something it doesn’t understand. We are not barking because we understand.
“We know where we are going. We have set all things that are needed to make the journey smooth.” Fubara had said.
Reacting to the statement during his address at Ogba-Egbema-Ndoni Local Government Area of Rivers State, Wike considered the statement to have been directed at him.
The former Rivers governor maintained that the same ‘barking dog’ had made Fubara a governor when he was largely unknown is barking.
“Somebody said a dog barking. This dog that is barking now barked when Rivers people did not even know who the person was.
“And the dog that barked made the person to be governor. Others ran away. And he is not afraid that the same dog now is barking.I wish him good luck.” Wike said.
While declaring his readiness to work for Tinubu’s re-election alongside other stakeholders of the state, Wike hinted at possible denial of Fubara a second term as he vowed to correct what he considered considered a mistake by the next election.
“We are not talking about party, we are talking about the renewed hope family. All of us have decided that we are going to work for Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu. There is no discussion about that. But as one, we must take decision.
“Of course you know we won’t make the mistake we made last time. That is why we are here.” He added.