By Adesina Soyooye
“I was told not to pick Fubara as successor because Opobo is not real Ijaw” – Wike
The political crisis in Rivers State is surely heading to a dangerous climax. Everybody is throwing every available weapon about. And nobody is pulling any stops.
Weighing in on Thursday is the well-regarded Ijaw Supreme Egbesu Assembly, SEA, with a message to President Bola Tinubu. If the Governor of Rivers State, Siminalayi Fubara is impeached, the Traditional Institution warned, President Tinubu will be in for a shock. “Ijaw people would shock President Bola Tinubu”, SEA emphasized.
Beyond that warning, SEA is holding former President Goodluck Jonathan and his wife, Dame Patience Jonathan, responsible for the unprecedented power Wike exercises today. According to SEA, Jonathan and his wife are to blame for foisting Wike on Rivers State as Governor and giving him power.
Fubara is the first Ijaw son to become the Governor of Rivers State in 24 years. But even then, his “Ijawness” was questioned, according to his predecessor and estranged political godfather, Nyesom Wike, when he decided on Fubara as his successor.
Speaking to Journalists on Wednesday in Abuja, Wike, who is the Minister for the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, said when he decided on Fubara as his successor, he was told by the “real” Ijaw not to. This is because, he said, Fubara is from Opobo, and Opobo people are not regarded as real Ijaw. According to Wike, those running around Fubara now and ripping him of money are same people who told him if you want an Ijaw to succeed you, why an Opobo man, why not from Kalabari who are real Ijaw?
Wike: “In fact, when I brought this Governor, they said ‘no, if you are talking about Ijaws, it should come to the Kalabaris. If you want to give Governor to the Ijaws and not Opobo’. You see the problem.
“But you closed your eyes and you did it. All those who fought me, who said ‘no we can’t accept this’, now parade themselves around him, hanging around him, taking his money.”
However, now that the chickens have come home to roost, whether Fubara’s Opobo is real Ijaw or not, SEA says they are waiting, patiently, for Fubara to be impeached. In a statement, the institution said Ijaw people are neither sleeping nor are they cowards.
Said SEA, in part: “The situation (in Rivers) was avoidable. But for Jonathan and his wife who imposed this thoughtless talkative on us, Rivers State wouldn’t be suffering the pain today.
“If they impeach Fubara, we will take everything in good faith. Ijaw people don’t believe in violence. But we are watching closely as Wike continues to harrass and intimidate the Governor of Rivers State.
“There is a saying that two mad people never behave madly at the same time. Some of those who have the capacity to talk will avoid responding like Wike for now. But we are not sleeping and we are not cowards.”
The crisis in the State which is gradually consuming it began only about three months after Fubara was sworn-in as Governor. He and his godfather Wike disagreed, allegedly, over power. The allegation is that Fubara’s audacity to appoint a Commissioner without Wike’s approval sparked the crisis which has spread without bounds.
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