Mayor of Urhoboland and ex-militant leader, Eshanekpe Israel aka Akpodoro, has called on President Bola Ahmed Tinubu mediate between the two major parties involved in what he described as protracted conflict of interests plaguing Rivers State.
In a statement made available to Emerald News, Akpodoro said the most unfortunate thing about the Rivers state debacle is the embarrassment it is causing the Nigerian judiciary to the extent that orders and counter orders are issued by judges at same time and on same matter unfortunately opening the judiciary to ridicule.
Akpodoro said President Tinubu owes it a duty to assert his authority as the President and Commander-In-Chief of the Nigerian Armed Forces, Federal Republic of Nigeria without which he said, the crisis has the propensity to wreck the ship of the nation’s democracy.
Irked by
He said the political impasse that has threatened and divided the people of the state making governance and service delivery difficult, hence impeding development in Rivers state.
Akpodoro said neither the former Governor Nyesom Wike nor his godson and incumbent governor Sim Fubara owns the state and the time is ripe for both to be forced by the president to sheath their swords ⚔️ for peace to reign.
The peace loving Mayor said the President Tinubu should invite both the godfather and godson to a roundtable and force them to a peaceful dialogue and settlement of their dispute.
He noted that, Mr Wike who is the current Minister of Federal Capital Territory, has been respected enough by the Tinubu administration and should be reasonable enough to equally return same respect to the President by maintaining decorum and not engage in activities capable of dragging the president’s integrity to the mud, adding Wike is the not first godfather in the country.
Conversely, the Mayor also called on Governor Fubara to learn the ropes by embracing peace and accord due respect to the man who broke the barriers of impossibilities to make him governor.
“Wike should be respected by all standard and must not be made a subject of ridicule among those he fought to make Fubara governor.
“We see Fubara play the victim in order to blackmail his political mentor and all of these must stop for the state to move on.”
The crisis, according to the leader of the Urhobo Youths Forum for Change, UYFC has opened up the state for demagogues to feast on to the extent that “a masochist” threatened to shoot down military plane in a sycophantic glare to please one of the parties in the feud because the two leaders made it possible.
At this juncture, the parties in the feud are backpeddaling the state’s progress for their personal aggrandisement and this must be forced to a stop.
None of the parties is bigger than the state, none is bigger than Nigeria and none is bigger than the Rivers electorates. Therefore, they should put the peace, growth and development of the state first in all considerations.
Akpodoro said should both parties refuse to embrace peace after the intervention being recommended to the President, then the president should wield the big stick.
The big stick could be for the National Assembly to take over legislation in the state or outright state of emergency declared to end the avoidable crisis.
The Mayor said the local government election held in the state penultimate week falls short of constitutional requirements because it was hurriedly organised and unfortunately that process claimed lives as aftermath of reactions from some quarters.
“For me, I have no side to take outside being on the side of the masses of our people because the development has dealt so much blows on peace loving people of the state,” Akpodoro stated.
