JOY ANIGBOGU
The issue of ‘godgatherism’ is negatively impacting Nigeria’s democracy, so much so that governance has been relegated to the background.
The gladiators are more interested in what they can gain than the welfare of the citizens. They spend time and even the resources of the state to fight for supremacy of power against the interest of the people.
It is unthinkable that when a governor has served out his tenure, he finds it difficult to come to terms with the fact that he is no longer the chief executive officer of the state.
He wants to call the shots by all means no matter whose ox is gored or the number of lives that could be wasted in a bid to remain relevant or as some of them would say control the political structure of the state.
Some of them have shamelessly and publicly said that they are fighting to retain their structures. They fail to understand that somebody handed over to them and if the person who they succeeded had removed the ladder as some would call it, would they have reigned as governors?
What is happening in Rivers State today is so disturbing that one could easily think it is one of the scenes from Nollywood.
How can a governor who has served out his tenure, two terms for that matter, and has been given an appointment as a minister still want to control the state? Is it that he has forgotten that he is no longer the governor or that he is so intoxicated by power and support from the centre that he thinks that the constitution of the Federal Republic is just an ordinary paper.
What is even more disturbing to some Nigerians is the role played by President Bola Tinubu as a mediator in trying to resolve the crisis.
Recall that the president has made two attempts at trying to resolve the Nyesom Wike, minister of the FCT and Governor Simi Fubara who have been at dagger drawn over who should call the shots in Rivers State.
At the first attempt, the President had called a meeting at the presidential villa on November and apparently to halt the crisis from festering, the President used the opportunity of the meeting of the Police Council, which both the governor and the FCT Minister attended as members, to end the feud between the two political allies.
Recall that the relationship between Fubara and Wike suffered a setback following attempts by a section of the state’s House of Assembly to impeach the governor last month.
Sources have laid the blame for the impeachment plot at the doorstep of Wike. The political atmosphere in Port Harcourt suddenly turned chaotic when the Assembly, split between the governor and his predecessor, made bold counter moves to checkmate each camp.
As the crisis deepened with the defection of 27 lawmakers from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the all Progressives Congress (APC) a few days ago, the president had another reason to intervene, this time around the intervention culminating in the signing of a document containing eight key resolutions.
After a crucial meeting with key figures from both sides, an eight-point resolution was signed, outlining steps to navigate the crisis and restore peace.
Both Governor Siminalayi Fubara and his political rival, former governor and current Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, were present and committed to the agreement.
According to some analysts the resolution, signed by a diverse group including security officials, party leaders, and legislative figures, signals a potential turning point in the months-long conflict.
Key Points of the Resolution are:
1. Governor Fubara and his allies will withdraw all court cases related to the crisis.
2. The State House of Assembly will drop impeachment proceedings initiated against Fubara.
3. The leadership of the House, under Speaker Martin Amaewhule, a Wike loyalist, will be recognized, along with the 27 lawmakers who defected from the Peoples Democratic Party.
4. Governor Fubara will re-present the 2024 budget to the Amaewhule-led Assembly.
5. Salaries and benefits for all Assembly members and staff will be restored
6. The Assembly will have autonomy to choose its location and conduct business without interference from the Executive
7. The Governor will resubmit the names of resigned commissioners for approval
8. The dissolution of local governments is declared null and void.
Some people faulted that agreement stressing that the content was skewed in favour of former Governor Wike.
Chief Edwin Clark, elder statesman and leader of the Pan Niger Delta Forum (PANDEF) described the communiqué issued at the end of the reconciliatory meeting by President Bola Tinubu as unjust and unacceptable to the people, especially the ljaw ethnic nationality.
Addressing a news conference at his Abuja residence on Tuesday, Clark threatened to institute legal action over the president’s decision.
Clark says the resolution was aimed at handing over the political leadership of Rivers State to the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike.
He noted that 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 Presidential elections, having appointed him the Minister of FCT.
He said, “Firstly, I wish to commend President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for heeding the various calls, including our own, to mediate in the on-going crisis rocking Rivers State by calling Barr. Nyesom Wike to order so as to restore peace and tranquility in the state and avert any problem similar to that which occurred in 2013, when Barr. Wike was Minister of State 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 elections, having first of gratified him by making him the Minister of FCT.
“First Observation: The composition of the attendees of the meeting was one sided in favour of Nyesom Wike, the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), because while Martins Amaewhule, a former Speaker, (because he has automatically lost his seat the very moment he decamped to another political party), was present at the meeting, it would have only been equitable and expedient, for Edison Ehie, the Speaker as affirmed by constitutional provisions and by the granting of the court, to be in the meeting, if there were sincerity of purpose.
“The 8 resolutions reached, are the most unconstitutional, absurd and obnoxious resolutions at settling feuding parties that I have ever witnessed in my life.
“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 or symbol of authority, ought to be sacred.
“It’s obvious that Governor Siminialayi 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.
“27 or so members (because the figure is not certain), of the Rivers State House of Assembly left the political party on which platform they were elected. The Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria is very clear on that. Section 109 is quite clear on that and it says:
“A member of a House of Assembly shall vacate his seat in the House if being a person whose election to the House of Assembly was sponsored by a political party, he becomes a member of another political party before the expiration of the period for which that House was elected:
“Provided that his membership of the later political party is not as a result of a division in the political party of which he was previously a member or of a merger of two or more political parties or factions by one of which he was previously sponsored;
Supporting Clark, Amapipi Martins, elder statesman of Rivers State on Arise TV on Wednesday, faulted the position of the President and insisted that Wike will never be allowed to lord it over Rivers people.
He said, “Wike wants to appropriate political power to himself. He wants to appropriate economic power to himself. The facts are very obvious, and like Wole Soyinka said, “Are we going to die by just remaining silent? Wike should be told that the state does not belong to him. It belongs to over 5 million people. He cannot decide on how governance should be or how the government should run. He was a governor just about 6 months ago and the rule is that having concluded his tenure he should pack and go. Why should he decide on who becomes governor? How should he appoint officials of the government and the governor is doing nothing? People that are on the political team should object to that and I object to that as well. A good number of Rivers people, Nigerians who are sane and honest would say a big no to that kind of thing. The conclusions at the meeting are all one sided. For instance, what is the status of the former legislators? They have left their party and gone to a party that has no single representation in the House of Assembly. Can they come and make laws? Can they come and look at the budget that was presented? They are not in the position to do that because the directive of the President was that the governor should re-present his budget. This raises a question. Who is he going to represent the budget to? To the 25 former legislators who have defected from their party and left for another party. So, there is a big question there and so many other issues raised in that meeting and so called agreement. And it appears the governor is completely new in politics and political theatrics.
“He may not be aware of the implications of what he had done. He was not actually tutored. The governor should also know that the state does not belong to him. There are stakeholders, the citizens and of course he has a wide support. He should be able to consult them on his conclusion before signing an agreement. What kind of agreement was that? That was supposed to be a peace meeting but lawyers have said that it has no legal or constitutionally binding effect on the outcome of the meeting.
Amapipi added, “Can you now at this point in time in the twenty-first century say that you own the people? It is unimaginable. It is unacceptable to even dream of that. It is a bad dream. One man cannot own us, and that I happened in Lagos doesn’t mean that it can happen in Rivers State. We are going to reject it. We are going to correct the governor. Anything concluded in that agreement with the president is wrong. There are many questions that have arisen. For example the legislators that denounced their party and went to another, the APC, They have automatically lost their positions, which is very unfortunate. It is unfortunate that they are not knowledgeable to know that. This issue has opened the eyes of Rivers people,”
On his part, Ken Okolugbo, former commissioner, Delta State Oil Producing Area Development Commission, in an interview on Arise TV on Wednesday, blamed the judiciary for contributing to the crisis.
He said, “People should look at it from the angle of what the judiciary is doing in Rivers State. They are the ones destroying the very fulcrum of peace in Rivers State and giving leeway for everybody to have a say. If you look at Nwifuru. Remember that the seat of Nwifuru was declared vacant with 14 others. By Justice Inyang Ekpo. What did Nwifuru do? He quickly appealed the judgment and asked for a stay of proceeding. It was alleged that it was Nwike funding the case against Umahi. Wike didn’t deny it. Nwifuru and others when they defected from the PDP. But it was just one court, Justice Inyang Ekpo, we didn’t have four or five courts sitting at the same time in the case of Ebonyi matter like we have it in Rivers matter. So, the judiciary should put its house in order.
He added, “You are talking about the constitutional part of the President’s meeting. You cannot hinge it on the constitution at this point, it is more of political settlement. If you hinge it on the constitution, the court should have allowed it to go into the merit of the matter. Like you rightly said, it was as if every ex parte order was being purchased. That is the way it looks because if you look at the lawyers, for example Daniel Gogo was accused that it was his younger brother that gave that judgment. If you look at the person that filed in Abuja. In the Omotosho case it was Ferdinand Orbih, who is a brother of Dan Orbih, the south-south PDP chairman and interestingly I don’t understand the PDP in this whole issue. I used to be a spokesperson for the PDP. Am ashamed and I am disappointed that this is the party that I represented over the years. I stood against the government of Buhari. It is difficult to believe that this is the same party that I worked for and was so passionate about. The President didn’t need to intervene if PDP had its house in order. We wouldn’t have been talking about this agreement. The Commissioners left on their own volition, these commissioners left because of another man. The commissioners that left showed that they are loyal, especially someone like Daniel Gogo who was secretary to the government. He told us that Wike was his benefactor, today he is with Fubara. It makes no sense after you have been in public office and you resigned voluntarily, Wike should look for other jobs for them. These are the things that Nigerians see that they now use to condemn that agreement. For you look at the whole body of that agreement, Fubara has suffered impeachment, the president has said don’t impeach him. If you know Tinubu there is one thing that you must say about Tinubu, he keeps to his words,” Okolugbo added.
Read the full article here
