An elder statesman and leader of the Pan Niger Delta Forum (PANDEF), Chief Edwin Clark, has said Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, is behind the plot to impeach Rivers State Governor, Sam Fubara.
According to him, Wike’s intention is to force Fubara’s deputy to resign after a successful impeachment and install the Speaker of the state House of Assembly as governor.
The elder statesman then asked President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to caution Wike and security agencies in Rivers State.
The Rivers State House of Assembly had removed Fubara’s loyalist and majority leader, Edison Ehie, who was said to have frustrated an attempt to initiate impeachment proceedings against the governor on Monday.
After that, the governor and his loyalists, reportedly surrounded by armed security operatives, stormed the assembly complex to disrupt the impeachment move.
Clark in a statement on Monday said 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.
Clark said Nigeria is in a democracy and the tenets of constitutional democracy must be upheld by all Rivers people who have suffered enough political crises.
The statement reads in part, “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.
“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.”