December 12, (THEWILL) – The Ijaw National Congress (INC) has urged President Bola Tinubu to caution the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, over alleged plans to remove Rivers State Governor, Siminialayi Fubara, from office.
The INC was reacting to a fresh political crisis in the oil-rich South-South state as 27 members of the Rivers State House of Assembly, on Monday, defected from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the All Progressives Congress (APC).
The 27 members were said to be loyal to Martins Amaewhule, who is an ally of Wike, the immediate past governor of the state.
For weeks, Amaewhule and another member, Edison Ehie, have been embroiled in a speakership tussle. Ehie is known to be in the camp of Governor Siminalayi Fubara.
The Assembly, under Amaewhule, had in October served an impeachment notice on Governor Fubara and removed Ehie as the House leader. However, some members of the Assembly loyal to Fubara immediately impeached Amaewhule and made Ehie the new Speaker.
The crisis in the 32-member Assembly had begun as a result of a rift between Fubara and his political godfather, Wike.
President Tinubu had in October met with both Wike and Fubara to resolve the crisis. However, Monday’s defection of 27 lawmakers from the PDP to the APC has again heightened political tension in Rivers State.
Wondering why Wike has been resolute in the plot to remove Fubara from office in spite of the interventions by the President and other stakeholders, the INC, in a statement by its President, Prof Benjamin Okaba, said the plot by Wike and some Federal Government officials to impeach Fubara is inimical to national stability.
Okaba also criticised the security agencies for their support for the Martins Amaewhule-led faction of the state lawmakers loyal to the FCT Minister.
He pointed out that security agencies provided cover for the anti-Fubara legislators to sit against a subsisting court order requiring all parties to maintain the status quo and to take no official actions until further notice.
“Mr President, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu (GCFR), we implore you once again to call Mr Wike and those Federal Government agencies and agents, who are putting Rivers State at risk of anarchy, to order.
“Such elements are inimical to the stability of Nigeria sooner or later. Mr Wike has also featured on several TV stations where he made very provocative statements and scandalous claims against Governor Fubara, accusing the Governor of attempting to “take over” his “structure”
“Wike openly taunted Fubara as an ingrate who is lacking in integrity as well as asserting without investigation that the Governor masterminded the burning down of the hallowed chamber of the Rivers State House of Assembly.
“Is Mr Wike at liberty to make scandalous, libellous and inciting comments without fear of sanction from the security agencies or even Mr President, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu?
“Is Wike the C-in-C of the Armed Forces of Nigeria, such that those on national assignments in Rivers State now act according to his whims and caprices or those he supports, in the push to impeach or make Rivers State ungovernable for His Excellency, Governor Siminialayi Fubara, as he publicly boasted?
“As we glean from history, can law-abiding citizens suffer such intolerable lawlessness orchestrated by one man, indefinitely?
“We, therefore, submit to Mr President, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu GCFR, that Ijaw National Congress (INC), its affiliate bodies, substructures and activists are direly concerned by the impunity and indecorous conduct by a Minister of the Federal Government and the apparent connivance of those who ought to curb his excesses,” Okaba said
The INC leader commended the embattled Rivers Governor for his calm disposition in the face of the provocation, saying, “Such conduct is becoming of a civilized leader and statesman.”
Okaba, who commended the Rivers State Council of Traditional Rulers and other stakeholders for their patriotism, called on all Rivers people and well-meaning Nigerians to condemn the impunity by Wike and his supporters.
He urged the people of Rivers to stand with Fubara “to protect democratic institutions and ensure that justice and the will of the masses prevail.”
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