The leader of the Pan-Niger Delta Forum (PANDEF), Pa Edwin Clark, has described the resolutions reached at the meeting convened by President Bola Tinubu as “unconstitutional.”.
The elder statesman, in a press conference in Abuja on Tuesday, faulted the eight-point resolutions signed by Fubara, Wike, and other stakeholders, claiming Fubara was “ambushed and intimidated into submission.”
He called for calm amongst the aggrieved youth in the state, assuring them that the next phase of legal action is aimed at dethroning the “hydra-headed monster, called oppression.”
He said: “From the terms of the 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 gratified him by making him the Minister of FCT.
“The eight resolutions reached are the most unconstitutional, absurd, and obnoxious resolutions at settling feuding parties that I have ever witnessed in my life. 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.
“Like I said, we will go to court to resist this oppressive action using all available constitutional and legal means. On this note, I wish to appeal to the youths who are aggrieved to remain calm, as we will use legal means to dethrone this hydra-headed monster, called oppression,” Clark said.
The President, at a closed-door meeting late Monday at the State House, Abuja, with Fubara, former governor of Rivers State, Dr. Peter Odili, and other stakeholders, directed that the political instability in the state should cease immediately.
Persecondnews reports that the meeting was also resolved as follows: “All matters instituted in court by the Governor of Rivers State, Sir Fubara, and his team with respect to the political crisis in the state shall be withdrawn immediately.
“All impeachment proceedings initiated against the governor of Rivers State by the State House of Assembly should be dropped immediately.
“The leadership of the Rivers State House of Assembly, as led by the Rt. Hon. Martin Amaewhule shall be recognized alongside the 27 members who resigned from the PDP.
“The Governor of Rivers State, Sim Fubara, shall re-present the state budget to the properly constituted Rivers State House of Assembly.
Earlier, as the crisis broke out, a federal lawmaker, Boma Goodhead, representing/Asari Toru Federal Constituency in the House of Representatives had called on the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory to cease forthwith with meddling in governance issues in the state and called on him to return funds he allegedly diverted.
At a protest rally in River State in support of Governor Siminalayi Fubara, Goodhead asserted that the state is not a business and is never subject to one person’s control.
Boma Godhead, who is also the sister of Asari Dokubu, urged the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and the Department of State Security (DSS) to effect the arrest of Fubara’s predecessor for allegedly defrauding the people of Ogoni land.
She said: “We call on the EFCC, DSS, and the police to arrest the former governor for defrauding the people of Ogoni Land.
Additionally, the lawmaker claimed that the Minister of FCT diverted N9 billion per month from state-generated internal revenue.
“Wike brought in the Director of the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) in River State and connived with the director to divert N9bn out of the N15bn that was generated monthly in the state. Please tell him to return the funds.
“He has kept the state as if it’s his private enterprise; he goes around bragging that the federal government is in his pocket, the presidency is in his pocket, and the Chief of Staff to the President is in his pocket. We are here to remind him that Rivers State is not in his pocket.
“We are fed up with his shenanigans in our state; one man cannot control the state; we dare him to step foot in the state.
“We will defend ourselves; we will defend our resources; we are not cowards; Wike is nobody without the people of Rivers State,” PersecondNews quotes Boma as saying.
She added: “Tinubu believes that Wike delivered Rivers State to him, but even Wike failed in his unit. He failed in his ward and even in his LGA.
“We are here to tell Ahmed Bola Tinubu to call Wike to order because the next time he comes into Rivers State to disturb the peace of the state, we will not fold our hands and watch. Wike should come to Rivers State, and we’ll show him what it means to hold Rivers State. We dare you to come back to Rivers State again if you are a man.”
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