Sophia Michaels
The kinsmen of the immediate past governor of Rivers State, Nyesom Wike have accused the current governor, Siminialayi Fubara, of harassing members of the legislative arm of government and their families.
The kinsmen, under the aegis of the Apara Committee of Friends (ACF), issued a statement after their meeting in Port Harcourt at the weekend, signed by Acting President Temple Weneka and Chairman Alex Wele, saying Fubara is beating the ethnic war drum in the state.
The kinsmen said Fubara’s statements and policies were unsafe and harmful to ethnic harmony in the peaceful state.
They argued that the political crisis in the state could have been avoided or long resolved if the governor had respected the eight-point presidential peace accord he signed in Abuja last year and the constitutional rights of the state House of Assembly members.
Describing Wike as a team player and an uncompromising believer in agreements, they blamed the political crisis in the state on “unguided statements, deliberate blackmail and mischief, political actions and policy decisions aimed at undermining the personality and integrity of the FCT minister.”
The ACF members also noted that Fubara’s withholding of the allocations of some councils was tantamount to denying them their statutory duties.
They, therefore, admonished the governor, as the father of the state, to save the state from the festering political crisis.
The statement reads: “The puerile confrontation and assault of Governor Sim Fubara on the Rivers State Lawmakers would have been avoided had the Governor respected the constitutional rights of the elected legislators, knowing that the Legislature is a separate arm of government which functions are adequately provided for in the 1999 Constitution.
“The demolition of the hallowed chamber of the State House of Assembly and the continuous harassment of members of the legislative arm of government and their families is an aberration and not acceptable in a democratic setting.
“The dictatorship style of governance by the governor in withholding the monthly allocations of the local government areas, depriving them of their constitutional and statutory obligations, suffering and denying the local government employees and political appointees their monthly wages are primitive and a setback to our democracy.
“The non-compliance by Governor Fubara with the eight-point Abuja Peace Accord facilitated by Mr President to ensure a lasting solution to the crisis in Rivers State which the governor had later abandoned.
“We maintained a studied silence since the inception of the political impasse, between our son and brother, the FCT Minister, Nyesom Ezenwo Wike, and Fubara but kept mute with the hope and expectation that the impasse would be amicably resolved in the interest, development and smooth running of the government of Rivers State.
“Regrettably, rather than see the manifestation and realisation of this long-awaited hope and expectation, what we have seen and continue to see, is a worsening political climate made possible by unguided statements, deliberate blackmail and mischief, political actions and policy decisions aimed at undermining the personality and integrity of the FCT minister.
“It is against this backdrop that we the Apara Committee of Friends, a socio political pressure group of the people of Apara Kingdom in Obio-Akpor Local Government Area of Rivers State found it necessary at this material time to highlight salient issues arising from the crisis, with a view to providing necessary clarifications to some of the issues.’’
