Rivers crisis: Ijaws find the resolutions issued in Fubara to be unacceptable — Edwin Clark

Edwin Clark, the South-South Leader, has characterised the directions given to Governor Sim Fubara in an attempt to resolve the political crisis in Rivers State as deplorable and unacceptable, especially for the Ijaw ethnic nationalities.

The governor and other Rivers stakeholders were present at a Monday night meeting at the Presidential Villa in Abuja, which was chaired by President Bola Tinubu, when the orders were handed.

The prominent Ijaw leader threatened to file a lawsuit when he made the statement on Tuesday during a press conference at his Abuja home.

He said that the eight-point resolution is undemocratic, autocratic, biassed, and intended to transfer Rivers State’s political leadership to Nyesom Wike, a former governor and minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).

He claims that it is clear from the terms of the alleged settlement that President Tinubu utilised his position as a mediator to express his appreciation to the minister of the Federal Capital Territory for “delivering” Rivers State to him in the previous presidential election.

He noted that Wike had been appeased by Tinubu’s appointment of him as the minister of FCT in the past.

The attendance at the meeting, according to Clark, were biassed in favour of the minister. He also described the 8-point resolution as the most ridiculous, unconstitutional, and offensive attempt at resolving disputes between rival parties that he had ever seen.

Governor Fubara, he claimed, was attacked and coerced into submitting.

“However, the terms of settlement as contained in the communiqué issued at the end of the reconciliatory meeting are what is baffling, appalling, and unacceptable to the people, especially the Ijaw ethnic nationality,” Clark said, praising President Tinubu for responding to calls to mediate the crisis.

According to the settlement’s terms, President Tinubu clearly views his role as a mediator as a means of expressing his gratitude to the current Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) for ‘delivering’ Rivers State to him in the previous presidential election, after initially satisfying him by appointing him to that position.

“First observation: The attendance at the meeting was skewed in favour of Nyesom Wike, the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), because Edison Ehie, the Speaker, should have been there if the goal was sincere, as confirmed by the court’s ruling and constitutional provisions. Martins Amaewhule, a former Speaker, was present as well, but he automatically lost his seat the moment he defected to a different political party.

“The eight resolutions that were reached are the most ridiculous, offensive, and unconstitutional attempts at party reconciliation that I have ever seen in my life.

In fact, when some media outlets referred to it as directions, they really nailed it. Furthermore, it is sacrilegious since such an act was carried out within the Villa, the Nigerian Federal Government’s headquarters, as any location that houses or looks after an official emblem should be considered sacred.

Governor Siminialayi Fubara was clearly tricked and coerced into submitting by an ambush.

“President Tinubu need to be aware that no matter how many powers he has, the Constitution still governs.

“The rules of the land have not been obeyed based on all that happened during the meeting. President Tinubu merely presided over a conference where the Constitution—which serves as the cornerstone of his office and which he has vowed to protect and uphold—was shortened and desecrated.

The Nigerian Constitution, Clark noted, is rather explicit about what happens to members of the Rivers State House of Assembly who quit their political party, regardless of the platform on which they were

He called it absurd that Commissioners who had resigned their posts on their own initiative must have their names resubmitted.

“Who is proposing them to be commissioners once more? Mr. President, is it? Was the President under the impression that he was acting as a mediator in a dispute between Nyesom Wike and workers at his private company? He said, Is it what Nyesom Wike means when he refers to Rivers State as his own property or enterprise when he talks about “structure?”

The order for Fubara to re-present the state budget that has already been approved by law and signed “is absolutely ridiculous and unconstitutional,” according to the former Federal Commissioner of Information.

He contended, “President Tinubu has overruled the country’s Constitution by his actions and directives; he has shaken the foundation of the country’s democracy.”

“President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has really shown his dislike and disdain for the Ijaw people and confirmed his hatred for them,” Clark continued. And we, the Ijaws’ leaders, will not submit to it.

Since “it is the duty of the executive to provide legislative accommodation for the Houses of Assembly, including the National Assembly, and not the members of the House of Assembly to choose a place to meet,” he vowed to resist the directive that members of the Assembly choose where they would sit in order to carry out their legislative duties.

“We shall oppose the President and his client Nyesom Wike’s such despicable, capricious, and unconstitutional actions. He said, “We will file a lawsuit to contest this allegedly oppressive and one-sided move by Mr. President.

By signing a declaration that contained such foolishness, Governor Fubara, according to Clark, shown “weakness of character.” He further stated, “He has betrayed the people who elected him as governor and those who stood behind him in this cause.”

“Mr. Fubara’s actions demonstrate his naivete; by signing that document, he has put himself on death’s waiting list, thinking the President would grant him some kind of favour. Given the constitutionality of Mr. Fubara’s mandate, he is unable to give it up in the face of intimidation from any source.

Clark issued a warning, stating that Tinubu would not put up with Fubara-like treatment and that “we are prepared to face any consequences that may result in the political crisis in Rivers State.”

We will oppose any effort, no matter how subtle, covert, overt, or subterranean, to turn Rivers State Governor Siminialayi Fubara—an elected Ijaw son—into a stooge or servant of Nyesom Wike, who had boasted that we would oppose any attempt by the Governor to interfere with his “Wike’s structure,” with President Bola Tinubu’s complicity.

“As I previously stated, we will use every constitutional and legal tool at our disposal to fight back against this outrageous conduct in court. On that subject, I would want to ask the angry young people to keep their cool because we will take legal action to overthrow the oppressive hydra-headed monster.