Ijaw Congress urges Tinubu to stop Rivers crisis

…Says crisis poses threat to Nigeria’s democracy

The Ijaw National Congress (INC) Worldwide, has urged President Bola Tinubu to pay close attention to political developments in Rivers to avert a breakdown of law and order.

Benjamin Okaba, president of INC said this on Monday in Abuja.

Governor Siminalayi Fubara and Nyesom Wike, FCT Minister, have been at loggerheads over the political soul of the state in what continues to generate tension in the oil-rich state.

Speaking in Abuja, Okaba warned that the political tension in Rivers was capable of breaching public peace and thwarting democracy in Nigeria.

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“Rivers is of special interest to the INC as lots of ljaw people are indigenes of the state. The INC believes that the issues we are dealing with in Rivers are far beyond political godfatherism, but that of desperation for state capture by all means and at all costs.

“The extent to which some of the dramatis personae are going with their self-seeking adventurous activities is quite worrisome as it appears that they do not care if democracy is truncated in Nigeria.

“Local government elections are not new in Nigeria. Indeed, it is a constitutional requirement that falls within the legislative purview of the states’’, he said.

He said three states in Nigeria, Akwa-Ibom, Benue and Jigawa conducted local government elections at the same time as Rivers with less rancour.

“It bears questioning why the elections in Rivers attracted such desperation and attention to the extent that the courts and the Nigeria Police became over-interested participants in the drama,” the INC president said.

He further noted that INC could not comprehend how a Federal High Court would restrain the police from performing their constitutional responsibilities.

“It is the opinion of Congress that the Rivers local government elections have come and gone and so it is time to now give peace a chance in the state. Since elections are periodic exercises, we advise those who disagree with Governor Sim Fubara to wait for the next elections.

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“They should demonstrate the civilised spirit of good sportsmanship in the interest of the peace and development of the state in particular and Nigeria in general.

“Let everyone be reminded that a similar situation in the defunct South-Western Nigeria between Obafemi Awolowo and Ladoke Akintola led to the truncating of Nigeria’s first republic. History can brutally repeat itself if people refuse to learn”, Okaba also said.