The All Progressives Congress (APC) has called on Rivers State Governor, Siminalayi Fubara, to cease what it termed “continuous blackmail” of President Bola Tinubu, Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Minister Nyesom Wike, and the judiciary, concerning the recent judgment halting state allocations.
The APC emphasized that “sentiments cannot trump facts in the face of the law.”
In a press briefing held in Abuja on Friday, Rivers APC Chairman, Tony Okocha criticized Governor Fubara’s approach, claiming it would not salvage his political standing.
Okocha accused Fubara of attempting to manipulate public opinion against the court’s ruling, which blocked federal allocations to Rivers State over unresolved issues.
He said, “Wike brought Fubara to where he is today. He lifted him from obscurity to political crescendo. Nobody is suffocating anybody. The fight in Rivers state is between Sim Fubara and Sim Fubara.”
According to him, the political crisis in Rivers would have since ended if Governor Fubara had obeyed President Tinubu’s intervention.
When asked for the way out, the APC caretaker chairman said the governor must obey the law of the land, including the law regarding a state’s budget.
“Sections 120, 121, 122 speak to this issue regarding budget clearly.
“As a political party, the All Progressives Congress, we stand with and by the judgment of the court because it is what will hold sway in the civil society, it is the court, not one man morality.
“We are also using this opportunity to speak against attempts to disparage innocent persons namely; Nyesom Wike, the FCT Minister. In all the cases in court, there are about 32 cases in which he is not a party to any. Why bring in the President?” he queried.
On the recent attempt by some stakeholders and elders in the Niger Delta to reconcile the gladiators in the Rivers crisis, Okocha said such a move was already belated.
He added, “I say it is foolishness for anyone to cry when the head is off. There is also this aphorism, that you don’t cry over a spilled milk.
“Where have these elders been? Where? The matter is narrowing down, if you ask me; because the only other hurdle to escape is the Supreme Court.
“What are the elders coming to do at this late hour, if they actually would want to come? What are they coming to do? They are the same people who told the governor, that you are a know-all and do-all, they encouraged the governor to believe that his head was bigger than his pillow.
“They were the ones, they told him, look, your powers are elastic, what can you not do? And the governor agreed to that and today, the Ikwerre man tells you that not everybody that comes to plan your building will be part of the building.
“”No. A lot of them have disappeared into thin air. At the time, they came to counsel the governor against the decision that he signed to. And the governor is on the hot seat. So to say to you that I don’t see that working is way, way too late.
“But I wish. We want peace, Simple thing. See, the only way to bring peace is to follow the law.”
