FCT Minister Nyesom Wike says it is unsurprising that political allies turn backstabbers because President Bola Tinubu taught him that betrayal in politics was commonplace and should, therefore, be expected.

The statement comes just as political tensions appear to be quelling in Rivers, where Mr Wike and his political godson, Governor Siminalayi Fubara, clashed over the affairs of the state until the president intervened and came up with a resolution with conditions that favoured the minister.

“President Tinubu told me, when we met, he said, ‘Look, politics and betrayal are the same mother and father’,” Mr Wike told the people he hosted at a banquet in Port Harcourt on Sunday. “If you don’t want to be betrayed, don’t enter into politics. Don’t bother that anybody betrayed you.”

The former governor of Rivers said that since Mr Tinubu had forewarned him that betrayal in politics was almost inevitable, he is insulated from the disappointment people feel when their political pals suddenly become their sworn enemies.

He asserted that having “shock absorbers,” or being ready for treachery, was an essential survival skill in politics—a crucial lesson he picked up from Mr Tinubu.

“You must have shock absorbers; that’s the only way you can survive,” Mr Wike said, adding that he was fully prepared for betrayals. “Don’t bother; prepare yourself that it will happen.”

“That is what President Tinubu taught me,” the FCT minister added.