The Rivers State Commissioner for Information and Communications, Joseph Johnson, has condemned the attempt by desperate lawmakers and their co-travellers to hijack the state government through a kangarroo impeachment and violent attack on Governor Siminalayi Fubara.
Johnson, who spoke with journalists during a protest on Monday said, “I am a lawyer, we live in the principle of verifiable and cogent reasons. So, they must tell Rivers people what the governor has done.
“The governor has urged the police and other security agencies to unravel the mystery behind the sudden explosion at the Assembly building.
“It is a fight for Rivers people and Siminalayi Fubara. Rivers people gave him that mandate and it is Rivers people that should decide. Power is not in any man’s hand, it is in the hands of God. So, power must shift and it has shifted.”
In his own reaction, an elder statesman and former Publicity Secretary of the Pan-Niger Delta Forum (PANDEF), Chief Anabs Sara-Igbe, described the situation as a mutiny against the State and the people.
Sara-Igbe said, “What happened today is mutiny against the people of Rivers State. So, I strongly, whole heartedly, condemned what happened in Rivers State.
“It goes to show that somebody somewhere wants to show power, it goes to show somebody wants to continue to run the state.
“A situation where somebody is a governor and you don’t have any power to appoint any member of your cabinet and someone will be telling the governor what he will collect from the revenue is a mutiny.”
Sara-Igbe alleged that the former governor and FCT Minister, Nyesom Wike, was suppressing the incumbent governor in the governance of the Dtate.
He stated, “Rivers State belongs to all of us and it does not belong to one man. You have looted enough and you are not satisfied after you left. You want to control Abuja, you want to control Rivers State, and the governor is till loyal, but you don’t want to give him little space.
“You want to cut-off his neck. He has gone beyond his boundaries, and so, Rivers people should get up.
“Rivers people voted for Sim Fubara as governor of the state, and they didn’t vote for Wike as governor of the state. Wike was brought by President Goodluck Jonathan and his wife, Patience. They made him governor, they did not dictate for him.
“They did not force him to be bringing Rivers money to them. So, why should Wike ask somebody, because he assisted him.
“I have severally advised former governors not to do wrong to avoid the law of Karma, and it will come when you do not expect. I think Karma wants to start by his own fault, not that the governor wants to pay him back but by his own natural fault he is inviting the Karma upon himself.
“I think Mr. Governor should take steps. He has constitutional powers, he should takeover government. He should not rely on Wike or anybody because they are not trustworthy.”
Sara-Igbe advised Fubara to call an emergency security meeting, stressing, “For them to be looking at the governor and splash him hot water, is a disgrace to Rivers people. And for you to point gun at the governor, you have pointed gun at Rivers people.”
Meanwhile, the National Leader, South-South/PANDEF, Chief Edwin Clark, has called on President Bola Tinubu to wade into the Rivers crisis and call the former governor of the State and Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, to order.
The Ijaw leader, at a press briefing on the Rivers crisis on Monday, also urged Tinubu to rein in on the security agencies in the State.
Clark said, “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 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 “.
Also, a chieftain of All Progressives Congress (APC), Eze Chukwuemeka Eze, urged the people of Rivers State to rally around Fubara and save the state “from a very unprincipled emperor.”
In a statement made available to journalists in Port Harcourt, Eze cautioned Wike to refrain from “his indulgence targeted against efforts to resist his boundless sense of entitlement and overlordship over the public and private lives and concerns of others, especially those who hold public office in trust for the people.
“The attempt to commence impeachment process against Rivers State governor just because he wants to revive most of Amaechi’s vision, like the Songhai and the Greater Port Harcourt, all aimed at making Rivers State not only self-sufficient, and empowering most youths in Rivers State, is sad and unfortunate.”
Similarly, a group, Citizens for the Sustainable Development of the Niger Delta (CSDND), condemned the purported suspension of the leader of the state Assembly, the impeachment notice against Fubura, and the alleged tear gas attack by some policemen on the state governor while on his way to assess the fire outbreak at the state Assembly complex on Sunday night.
In a statement made by its National Coordinator, James Okpara, CSDND said it was also too early for political actors to engage in show of strength and ego clash that will throw the state into chaos.
According to the group, it would be a shame for a governor, who had just spent only five months in office, to be confronted with this magnitude of coup d’état against him.
CSDND, in the statement, argued that despite the fact that the emergence of Fubara, an Ijaw, was welcomed by the majority of the stakeholders from the region, “The evil plot to destabilise the state House of Assembly and the executive arm in a battle for control is evil and should be widely condemned.”
It added, “The suspected dynamite explosion at the state House of Assembly Complex in Port Harcourt, suspension of the leader, and impeachment notice against Governor Fubura is an indication that those behind the attack are desperate and are enemies of the Rivers people”.
Also speaking on the crisis, former representative of the Rivers South East Senatorial District at the 8th National Assembly, Senator Magnus Ngei Abe, condemned the current political imbroglio in the state.
The senator in a statement on his Facebook account on Monday titled: ‘I CONDEMN THE ONGOING UNREST IN RIVERS STATE’ insisted that there can only be one Governor of a state at a time according to the Constitution of the federal Republic of Nigeria.
The statement reads: “In as much as I have chosen to remain silent on the Political issues in Rivers State, let me make four simple statements:
“As seen in trending videos in the media space today (Monday), the direct gun shots and tear-gassing on the person of the Governor of Rivers State, His Excellency, Simialayi Fubara, who is the Chief Security Officer of the state, was wrong. This is beyond politics, and I publicly condemn it”.
Abe a former minority leader of the Rivers State House of Assembly between 1999 and 2003, further stated that, “As a former Minority leader of the Rivers State House of Assembly, I am particularly saddened by the destruction of our beloved House of Parliament, and a valuable state asset: this is unacceptable”.
He went further to say, “I believe that in the interest of the state, the Nigerian Police needs to have a deeper conversation with the Governor who is the current Chief Security Officer and the only Rivers man that currently enjoys constitutional immunity”.
The Senator submitted that there can be only one Governor of the state at a time and therefore, “whatever our political differences, we must look for ways to resolve them without jeopardising the peace and security of our fellow citizens”.
Meanwhile, civil society group dedicated to promoting peace, unity, and progress within Rivers State, Women United for Peaceful Rivers, has vehemently condemned the move to impeach Governor Fubara.
The women forum, in a statement by its chairperson, Dr. Adaku Amadi, and vice chairperson, Ebiere Thomas, expressed unwavering support for Fubara.
The statement read, “We express our unwavering support for Governor Fubara,, and we are determined to protect the stability and prosperity of our beloved state.
“We wish to make it abundantly clear that any attempt to impeach the Governor will be met with resistance from the women of Rivers State.
“We, as Women United for Peaceful Rivers, stand together in our resolve to defend the democratic values and the rule of law that our state holds dear.
“We urge the Speaker of the Rivers State House of Assembly, Rt Hon. Martin’s Amaewhule, and all members of the Assembly not to take any actions that may jeopardize the peace and stability of our state. .
“Our commitment to peace should not be underestimated. We firmly believe that the women of Rivers State will not stand idly by and watch retrogressive forces dismantle the progress we have achieved.
“We echo the words of wisdom that to be forewarned is to be forearmed.