By Louis Achi
Elder statesman, former Minister of Information and founding leader of the Pan Niger Delta Forum (PANDEF), Chief Edwin Clark, has appealed to President Bola Tinubu to immediately intervene in the crisis rocking Rivers State over an attempt to impeach Governor Siminalaye Fubara.
Clark called on President Tinubu to rein in ex-Rivers governor and current minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Chief Nysome Wike, and security agencies in the state over the ‘sponsored’ impeachment plot by the state’s lawmakers.
In a statement on Monday, Clark stressed that any plot to unlawfully remove Fubara as duly elected governor of Rivers State would be resisted by all.
The Ijaw national leader said the intervention of President Tinubu was necessary to avert looming chaos in the oil-rich Niger Delta state.
His words: “I have been greatly disturbed by the reported developments in Rivers State in the last 24 hours.
” I have been reliably informed that there is a plot to unlawfully remove the governor of Rivers State, His Excellency, Siminalaye Fubara, who has spent only about 5 months in office.
“I understand the sad episode is being orchestrated by the immediate past Governor of Rivers State and the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Mr. Nyesom Wike. And that the intention is to remove the governor, force his deputy, Professor Ngozi Odu to resign, and install the Speaker of the House of Assembly, another Ikwerre person as the governor of the State.
“Let me warn you strongly, we won’t allow that to happen!
“President Bola Tinubu must call Nyesom Wike and the security agencies in Rivers State to order, to avert any untold crisis in Rivers State.
“Last night, the hallowed chamber of the Rivers State House of Assembly was burnt, in what apparently is part of the plot to destabilize the State.
“The Governor was tear-gassed and was even threatened with being shot at when he visited the Assembly Complex after the incident, to assess the level of damage.
“We are not in a barbaric state where people can do whatever they like; we are in a democracy and the tenets of constitutional democracy must be upheld by all.
“Rivers people have suffered enough political crises; the state should not be allowed to degenerate again into its dark past, and the Niger Delta Region by extension.
“The consequences would be dire for the stability of the region and the National Economy.
“What has Governor Fubara done wrong? Refusing to be further “remote controlled”?
“Mr. Nyesom Wike was Governor for 8 years, nobody hassled him. He governed Rivers State like an Emperor, he did not show any iota of respect and regard to anyone, not even those who imposed him on Rivers people in 2015.
“President Tinubu must act fast and avert the unfolding crisis in Rivers State in the interest of his administration, the nation’s democracy, and the Country at large.”
