Tension has continued to mount in Rivers state political crises as more groups are voicing out their anger over the alleged plans by Wike to use the Rivers State House of Assembly to remove Governor Siminalayi Fubara from office.
Amongst the group is, the Ijaw National Congress (INC), who yesterday, urged the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, to allow Governor Fubara to concentrate on governance of the State for the development of Rivers state people, while at the same time advised President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to restrain the former governor from meddling into what is not his constitutional right.
Analyzing the development so far with Arise Television last night, President of INC, Professor Benjamin Okaba, said something urgent must be done by the federal government to avert the eminent disaster.
Okaba was speaking in the wake of a stalemate after Governor Fubara was denied access to the Rivers State House of Assembly complex to present the 2025 budget to the lawmakers who are loyal to Wike.
“President Tinubu has the choice of choosing between Wike and Ijaw Nation. Let him be encouraging him (Wike) to mess up himself in public, Okaba added.
“Let him encourage him to be insulting people. But should the otherwise happen, they should not hold the leadership of Ijaw nation responsible. So far he wants as many structures as possible to fall and die with him, we shall help him.
“He is frustrated and becoming so desperate because the political economy of Rivers State is slipping off; he will not win. Wike will not win; government is not about individuals. One person cannot be more powerful than an institution. That is the statement we are making.
“We have not seen any error or crime committed by the governor. And as a true son of Ijaw nation, the INC shall apply every legitimate effort to support and defend our own,” he said.
Governor Similanyi Fubara is an ijaw ethnic by extraction.
Some analyst believes that the crisis in Rivers State has the potential to the oil rich state and by extension, the Niger Delta and the whole country into chaos.
Similarly, an elder statesman who is also member of the Rivers State Elders and Leaders Forum, Anabs Sara-Igbehas, condemned the action of lawmakers of the Rivers Assembly for denying Fubara access to present the state budget to them.
Sara-Igbe, who is the pioneer spokesman for the Pan Niger Delta Forum, described the action of the lawmakers as provocative and an insult to Rivers people.
Speaking in Port Harcourt, Sara-Igbe, who is the National Chairman of South South Elders Forum, said denying the governor access to the Assembly complex was not an insult to Fubara as a person, but to the people of Rivers State.
He said, “The governor was elected by millions of Rivers people. As the chief executive officer of the state, he has unhindered access to all the facilities within the state. Blocking him from entering the complex is a direct insult and embarrassment to the people of Rivers state.
“It is now very clear that the governor is ready for peace. But these people are not ready for peace.
Sara-Igbe further said that Fubara has always wanted peace; hence on the advice of President Bola Tinubu, he withdrew the case he had against the lawmakers last year even when they refused to withdraw theirs.
On the comment by Wike, who during a media chat on Wednesday morning said Fubara can be impeached and “heaven will not fall”, the elder statesman reminded that pouring insults on the Ijaw people will not help the former governor and the current political situation in the state.
“He should remember that during the time of late President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua, the production rate of crude dropped drastically from 2.4million barrels per day to a paltry 700,000bpd until the elders of the Ijaw nation and the Niger Delta pleaded with the various militant groups including the Avengers, movement for the emancipation of the Niger Delta, among others to stay action.
“The nation’s economy today is at a sad point. We don’t want anything to happen to the crude oil production. The minister should be mindful of his utterances. While we plead for all parties in the crisis to follow the path of peace, we all should also mind what we say per time,” he said.
Wike had dismissed the group, saying it is not a major ethnic group in the Niger Delta region.
Recalled last week, leaders of the Ijaw Youth Council (IYC) also warned that they will resist any forceful attempt to remove Fubara from office.
The group threatened that should those intimidating impeachment against Fubara carry out their threat, the youths of Ijaw nation will be left with no other options than to shut down all the flow stations in the Niger Delta.
President of IYC, Theophilus Alaye issued the threat in a statement, saying those threatening impeachment against Fubara should be careful because any forceful attempt to remove him from office will be resisted.
He recalled that it was the fierce quest of the then National Party of Nigeria (NPN) to take over opposition controlled states that led to the military take-over in 1983.
He therefore call on president Tinubu to avoid anything that would truncate his government in the current democratic experience.
