Governor Nyesom Wike may get cleared coast to govern for the second term as the strongest case against him at the tribunal may be withdrawn. This is because Kula kings where the African Alliance Congress (AAC), Awara Biokpomabo hails from, have pointedly asked him to withdraw the case.
This comes on the heels of withdrawals from both two other political parties that went to the tribunal to challenge his victory. Before the elections, Governor Wike had knocked out almost every strong challenger either directly or indirectly.
Wike has also initiated a peace move to the opposition, which was accepted formally, and this has led to nolle prosqui being entered in two murder cases against All Progressives Congress (APC) chieftains, Flag Ojukaye Amachree of Abonnema and Chidi Lloyd of Emohua.
Now, in line with the post-election peace initiative by Wike, the Kula Supreme Council of Traditional Rulers has appealed to Awara to withdraw his case at the tribunal. The Kula monarchs too recently dropped their own differences and united the council to allow development penetrate their kingdom.
It would be recall that Wike polled 888,264 votes to defeat the AAC candidate who polled 137,859 votes in an election that was suspended for three weeks over allegation of widespread disruption of the electoral process.
The chairman of the newly formed Kula Supreme Council of Traditional Rulers, the king, Kroma Amabibi Eleki, Sara the 14th and Amanyanabo of Kula and the Secretary, the king, Bourdillon Allen Ekine, the Oko 26th and Amanyanabo of Opukula (Old Shipping), during a courtesy visit on the AAC governorship candidate in Abuja said it was time to end divisive politics and fighting in Rivers State.
Eleki appealed to the AAC candidate whom he referred to as their son to accept the Olive Branch offered by the governor in the overall interest of peace and development of Rivers State. He said their decision to seek out of court solution to the Rivers State governorship tussle was borne out of a genuine desire to reduce political tension in the state and insecurity occasioned by political activities.
The king said “Let us work together with the present administration so that there will be peace, harmony and unity in our Rivers State. We cannot continue to struggle, we cannot continue to fight, we cannot continue to argue. That is why we are here to plead with you as your fathers that please let us put a stop to what is going on and let us accept the Olive Branch stretched out to us by the Executive Governor of Rivers State so that we can work together for the progress and development of our dear state’’
For his part, the Secretary of the Kula Supreme Council of Traditional Rulers said the council would also seek an audience with the governor in order to consolidate on its reconciliation and peace move in the state.
According to Bourdillon “Now that Kula has achieved peace, we want him to withdraw his case in court and let there be peace in Rivers State. As there is peace in Kula, peace should also be in Rivers State, that is our mission to Abuja. We want the governorship candidate of the AAC, the engineer, Biokpomabo Awara, to obey us who are his royal fathers by withdrawing his case from the court and work with the incumbent governor, Nyesom Wike, to move Rivers State forward. The governor is also our son, we are traditional rulers of all, we are the royal fathers of the whole state”
In his response, the AAC governorship candidate assured the royal fathers that he would revert to them after consulting with the leadership of his party and other relevant stakeholders in the state on the appeal made to him to withdraw his case at the Tribunal.
Awara said, “You have given me a task. I have to consult. I will revert to you after meeting all relevant stakeholders that are involved in this. It is not just about me Biokpomabo Awara, it is about Rivers people, Like I said I will revert back to you after consulting with the stakeholders, and the needed peace that you want, God being who is, we will achieve that peace in our dear state”
Some Kula chiefs who also spoke at the meeting commended Gov Wike for showing sincerity in his peace initiative and for promising to involve the opposition in his government.
