Newsfront Online …Telling the Public as it is
Rivers State Governor Siminalayi Fubara has said he is prepared and will continue to pay the necessary price that will guarantee peace in the state.
He stated that having peace among the people is key to fostering development in the state. Fubara’s conciliatory tone is a clear departure from the combative governor who had engaged in a public struggle for control with his political godfather and predecessor, Nyesome Wike, who is the current minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja.
The governor’s new stance may not be unconnected to what transpired in the Presidential Villa on Monday during which he signed up to a President Bola Tinubu-brokered peace pact whose conditions effectively made him a titular governor of Rivers State.
The terms of the resolution restored Wike’s loyalists to his cabinet and made him recognise and work with lawmakers who had not only tried to impeach him as governor but who had also earlier defected from his party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the All Progressives Congress (APC), among others.
Fubara, who spoke yesterday at the third convocation and 6th Founders’ Day ceremonies of the PAMO University of Medical Sciences, Iriebe, in Obio/Akpor local government area of the state, however, said there is no price too big to pay to ensure that peace prevails. The governor promised that the provision of quality education and affordable public healthcare services will remain two vital priorities of his administration that are driven to achieve universal access for all Rivers people.
He said: “While some progress has been made, it is obvious that a lot still needs to be done to achieve our collective aspirations for universal access to quality education and healthcare for our people. I need not say that no society can progress without educated and healthy people.” The governor further stated that the PAMO University, founded by Dr. Peter Odili, had made giant strides within six years of its establishment to become Nigeria’s most outstanding private medical institution.
The governor announced that his administration had increased the number of students from 100 to 150, who can now benefit from the state’s yearly scholarship in the institution. He said: “I assure you that we have no choice as a government, but to continue to offer tangible material support to enable the university to widen the scope and quality of medical education and services it provides in our state.”
In his speech, the chancellor of the institution and former head of state, General Abdulsalami Abubakar (rtd), expressed optimism that the graduating students will be good ambassadors of the institution that has moulded them to be excellent in their studies by being humane and honest in the discharge of their duties wherever they go.
Also, the pro-chancellor of the university and former Rivers State governor, Dr. Peter Odili, said the institution that started in 2018 had come of age by graduating students after six years of study to become medical doctors and inducted into medical profession.
Clark Declares Peace Pact One-sided
Meanwhile, elder statesman and Niger Delta leader, Chief Edwin Clark has described the terms of the truce brokered by President Bola Tinubu to settle the political rift between Rivers State Governor Siminalayi Fubara and his predecessor, Federal Capital Territory (FCT) minister, Nyesom Wike, as appalling and unacceptable to the people, especially, the Ijaw ethnic nationality. He said the eight resolutions are the most “unconstitutional, absurd and obnoxious resolutions at settling feuding parties that I have ever witnessed in my life.”
Clark, who stated this at a press conference in Abuja, said the terms of settlement show that the president is still bent on showing gratitude to Wike for “delivering” Rivers State to him during the past presidential elections, having gratified him with the position of FCT minister.
The elder statesman, however, commended Tinubu for heeding the various calls to mediate in the on-going crisis by calling Wike to order so as to restore peace and tranquility in the state and averting a similar problem which occurred in 2013, when Wike was minister of state for education.
“However, the terms of settlement as contained in the Communique issued at the end of the reconciliatory meeting is baffling, appalling and unacceptable to the people, especially, the Ijaw ethnic nationality. “From the terms of settlement, it is obvious that President Tinubu sees his role as a mediator, to once again show gratitude to the current minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), for “delivering” Rivers State to him during the past presidential election, having first gratified him by making him the minister of FCT.”
Clark said there was no sincerity of purpose in the composition of those that attended the meeting, stressing that everything was in favour of Wike. He said while Martins Amaewhule, a former Speaker, (because he had automatically lost his seat the very moment he defected to another political party), was present at the meeting, Edison Ehie, the Speaker as affirmed by constitutional provisions and by the court, ought to be in the meeting.
“As a matter of fact, some media captured it very well when they described it as directives. And for the fact that such a thing was done at the Villa, the seat of the Federal Government of Nigeria, is sacrilegious, because any place housing, or is a custodian of symbol of authority, ought to be sacred.”
Clark noted that it is obvious that Fubara was ambushed and intimidated into submission. “President Tinubu should know that with all the powers he possesses, he cannot override the Constitution. From all that transpired at the meeting, the laws of the land have not been obeyed. President Tinubu simply sat over a meeting where the Constitution, which is the fulcrum of his office as President and which he swore to uphold and abide by, was truncated and desecrated,” Clarks said.
PDP Insists Wike Still Party Member, Not Above Sanctions
Also, the national leadership of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) yesterday said there is no remedy for the 27 former members of the Rivers State House of Assembly who vacated and legally lost their seats after defecting from PDP, the platform upon which they were elected into the House of Assembly.
The party cited Section 109 (1)(g) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended), to support its claim. The acting national chairman of PDP, Amb. Umar Iliya Damagum, stated this at a conference after an emergency meeting by the National Working Committee (NWC) on the political developments in Rivers State.
The party was reacting to the recent truce brokered by President Bola Tinubu between Rivers State governor, Siminalayi Fubara and his estranged predecessor and minister of Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike. Damagum told newsmen that the only option available to the former lawmakers is to seek fresh nomination and re-election on the platform of any political party of their choice in line with the provisions of the Nigerian Constitution and the Electoral Act, 2022.
He said, “The 27 former Rivers lawmakers freely and without any cause vacated their seats, being fully aware of the consequences of defection from the party upon which they were elected into the Rivers State House of Assembly, without the conditions stipulated by the 1999 Constitution.” The acting chairman said there is no division in the PDP at the national or any other level to justify the defection of the former lawmakers.
The PDP demanded that INEC should, “in line with Section 109 (1) (g) of the 1999 Constitution (as amended) and Section 84 (15) of the Electoral Act, 2022, fix a date for the conduct of fresh election into the 27 State Constituencies in Rivers State where vacancies have occurred by reason of the defection of the now former members of the Rivers State House of Assembly, pending the determination of any suit in any court.” When asked about Wike’s place in the party, Damagum said the minister remains a party member, since he has not denied his membership of the party.
The acting chairman also said PDP can prove to Wike that he is not above the party. He said, “And our stand about our Wike, I have always said that as long as you are a member of the PDP, there is a time for everything. My duty is to stabilise this party and not to cause a crisis. And I will continue to do that within the confines of reason. “When things go out of hand, we will act. But meanwhile, we still see it within the ambit of the law. Mind you, we have other litigations going on at this party. We don’t want to plunge our party into another crisis.
“And let me tell you something, it is not only Wike, there are other people who worked against this party. When we get to that level we will sanction everybody. If Wike believes he is above this party, we will be able to show him that he is not above this party.
“One thing I am conscious about is that there was never a time he said he’s not a member of this party. The same members of this party that believe he has done something wrong have also done something wrong to the party.” He, however, said the party will soon inaugurate a recently approved committee to review the 2023 election.
He said the committee will review what happened in 2023 and come out with a report “not only about one person, but every person who has one way or another engaged in anti-party activities. Then after that, we will see what kind of measures to take.”
