…As state’s APC asks Tinubu to send own portion through Wike
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has received urgent outcry over palliatives in Rivers State and has been asked to route a portion of Rivers share through the FCT Minister, Nyesom Wike.
This is a new phase of crisis in Rivers State. Just the previous day, the Wike-backed camp clashed with the Sim Fubara men at Obio/Akpor with both camps giving different accounts of what led to the fight. The Wike group said they were out to stop illegal caretaker committee from inaugurating a committee, while the Fubara camp claimed it was the Ministry of Health that came to distribute drugs at a healthcare centre.
The save-our-soul (SOS) message which was delivered Thursday, July 25, 2024, said in the alternative, the President should mandate the Rivers State Governor, Sim Fubara, to include the APC in the state (the section led by Tony Okocha as caretaker committee chairman) and backed by the FCT Minister.
The memo which was copied the national chairman of the party and the FCT Minister prayed the President to direct the relevant allocation authority in the distribution of other palliatives that may come to the state in the future to go through the FCT Minister to the majority of Rivers people who Okocha said would always be denied access unless something was done.
The letter written by Okocha and other members of his caretaker committee invited Tinubu to: “Note and consider that rural dwellers are easily swayed by happenings around them and if the present situation is allowed to continue, the APC and its leaders who are at the receiving end of the deprivation will not only begin to lose followers but Governor Sim Fubara and his group will also become more and more emboldened.”
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Okocha accused Fubara of using the caretaker committee members in the state which he described as ‘illegal’ to distribute the palliatives that the FG sent to the state.
The SOS said while Tinubu was doing wonderfully well to pull the masses out of poverty, Fubara has formed what he called ‘Asawana’ group to marginalise others. He accused Fubara of “Expropriation of the ordinary Rivers people (who are not Asawana apologists) of the Federal Government’s well-intended initiative.
“Rivers people were in widespread jubilation since after they heard of the graciousness of the Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu-led FG in finding solutions to the challenges faced by Nigerians typified by the distribution of millions of tons of rice in bags across the country. Their joy was however, short-lived when they saw that the illegal Caretaker Committee Chairmen of the 23 LGAs were given full control of the palliatives and the rest of the state left to continue to suffer lack.
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“At the moment, our people in the Local Government Areas and Communities are being put-down, mocked and shamed. They have been promised continued hunger for failing to join the Asawana movement, the fact that what they are sharing is a gift for all Rivers people from the Federal Government, notwithstanding.”
The memo accused Gov Fubara of surrounding himself with Atiku Abubakar and his henchmen in Rivers State, saying such people would never see anything good in Tinubu.
Okocha told Tinubu that Rivers State is sharply divided into two. He named them as the ‘Asawana group’ which he said is led by Gov Fubara; and the other he called, “The larger majority of Rivers people whose unflinching loyalty and support is for the President. They comprise of members of the APC and PDP who have chosen to remain with Mr President under the leadership of the FCT Minister who we are all very proud of your achievements.”
Okocha named the achievements of the President thus: “Available statistics from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) show that the country’s gross domestic product (GDP) growth rate is 3.1% while the 1st quarter 2024 trade surplus currently stands at N6.5triIlIon.
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“With the external reserves standing above 34 billion dollars and the new minimum wage bill of N70,000 underway, Nigeria is certainly on the path of sustainable growth and progress.”
He said Rivers state has received bigger federal allocation under Tinubu but that the people were yet to see anything. Okocha had earlier scored Fubara ‘minus zero’ in one year anniversary.
The caretaker committee chairman told Tinubu that his APC in Rivers State was pleased with the administration.
