A forum of elders and National Assembly members from Rivers State has exonerated the minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Nyesom Ezenwo Wike from the raging leadership crisis in the state legislature.
The elders said yesterday at a press conference in Abuja that minister had nothing to do with the disagreement within the House of Assembly.
The coordinator of the group, Chief Ferdinand Anabraba, said the situation was only a disagreement between the impeached leader of the House, Edison Ehie and other members of the legislature.
Anabraba said, “This is the press statement by the Rivers State Leaders Forum in regards to the recent incident events in our state, which culminated in the desecration and arson attack on the hallowed chamber of the Rivers State House of Assembly; the removal of the leader of the Assembly, Hon. Edison Ehie, his suspension of three others, the counter-action of Ehie and his group on the claimed impeachment of the Speaker, Martins Amaewhule, the suspension of some persons loyal to the speaker with the elevation of Ehie to the position of speaker.
“We have also followed the public appearance and the speech of the governor of Rivers State, at Government House and at the State House of Assembly complex and his encounter with the police. We are aware of the various allegations of which this unfortunate event has linked with the former governor and minister of the FCT, Nyesom Wike.
“We have listened to the various insinuations of ethnic undertone, especially as Governor Fubara is Ijaw and is marked for impeachment to pave the way for the continuation of Ikwerre governor.
“We met with our governor, Siminalayi Fubara and the honourable minister, Nyesom Wike and wish to state as follows: ‘That Nyesom Ezenwo Wike is the undisputed leader of the political family that produced Governor Siminalayi Fubara, the three senators in the National Assembly, the 11 members of the House of Representatives, all 32 members of the State House of Assembly, the 23 local government chairmen and the entire councillors of the 23 local government councils.
“That Governor Fubara and all the above elected office holders belong to the same political family and are bound by our philosophy to transform, build develop and create the Rivers State of our dreams in line with our New Rivers Vision devoid of ethnicity, tribe, creed and gender.
“That we are aware that there was a pre-existing problem between Hon. Ehie, then majority leader of the House and his colleague
“That to forestall Ehie’s removal, the hallowed chamber of the Assembly was burnt and Governor Fubara believed that Hon. Ehie’s removal was percusal to His Excellency’s impeachment, which is not true.
“That the misrepresentation of the Internal wranglings among the members prompted the governor’s intervention making characterise a purely executive brawl as an essential threat.
“This caught the governor and the newly assembled supporters to give it an ethnic coloration and prompted youths of Ijaw extraction to rally round the governor in the name of Ijaw nationalism.
“The hasty reaction of the governor has now pitched Fubara and the State House of Assembly, in an all-out battle that has led to the activation of the impeachment of the governor.
*That the governor neither sought the help, clarification or intervention of Nyesom Wike or the elders, nor did he discourage damaging reports against Nyesom Wike.
“Nyesom Wike has been viciously attacked by various sections of the media as evil mind of a series of events that he was neither involved in or privy to.
“That false stories were peddled that Nyesom Wike demanded money from the governor before the gullible public, which is very sad.
“We confirm that the allegations were wicked, unfair, satanic and the governor not debunking shows signs of ingratitude.”
Also yesterday, Wike told PDP governors that he cannot be intimidated and warned against tampering with the political structure in the tate.
He spoke in Abuja after a closed-door meeting with members of the PDP Governors’ Forum led by chairman and governor of Bauchi State, Bala Mohammed, on a courtesy visit to the minister’s office.
The minister dismissed rumours of interest in monies belonging to Rivers State, adding that nobody could take away the political structure in the state.
He said, “Nobody can intimidate me. If I want to do something, I will do it. Impeachment is not a military coup; it is provided under the Constitution. I am not interested in all the rumours, money, this, and that. Rubbish.
“Absolute rubbish. I just left office how many months ago? And I am the FCT minister, so which money? But nobody can take away our political structure. No one,” he said.
Relatedly, Fubara has assured the people of the state that the disagreement between him and the minister would be resolved.
This came as the police arraigned 121 supporters of the governor, before a Chief Magistrate Court in Port Harcourt, for allegedly attacking the official residence of the embattled Speaker of the State House of Assembly, Martins Amaewhule.
Fubara, who spoke in Abuja yesterday, said “For our dear state, I know a few things have been going on, and everybody is wondering what is happening and what is not happening.
“We are okay; there is no problem. If we have an internal issue, it will be resolved and everything will come back to normal. There is nothing wrong if a father and a son has problem. I don’t think there is a problem. But, if there is any issue, I will definitely resolve the problem.”
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