An elder statesman in the Niger Delta, Anabs Sara-Igbe has condemned the attempted impeachment of Governor Siminalayi Fubara by the Rivers State House of Assembly.
Some House of Assembly members, including the now impeached Speaker of the House; Martins Amaewhule had attempted to impeach Governor Fubara, citing misconduct and abuse of power, which was opposed by the governor’s supporters.
The former leader of the House, Edison Ehie also announced himself as the new Speaker of the House, after a sitting on Monday afternoon inside the Government House.
He claimed he was elected by 26 members of the House.
Ehie also announced the suspension of Amaewhule as the Speaker and some members, whose names he did not mention.
He mandated the House Committee on Petition to investigate those suspended and ensure they were given a fair hearing.
Addressing journalists in Port Harcourt on Monday evening, Saraigbe said it is the constitutional power of a governor to run his state.
Saraigbe accused the immediate past Governor of Rivers State, Nyesom Wike of being the mastermind behind the attempted impeachment of the governor, alleging that the former governor made open threats against Governor Fubara.
He said, “ he has been threatening him, he has said it openly. It is not a strange thing. For Assembly members to do what they did there must be a whistleblower.”
The former Security Adviser to the former Governor of Rivers State, Peter Odili, also accused Wike of determining appointees into the cabinet of Governor Fubara and dictating the Governor’s expenditures of the internally generated revenue of the state, as well as the federation account.
He reiterated to Wike that Rivers State does not belong to him and he therefore cannot control Abuja and Rivers State.
Sairaigbe, who is also the National Coordinator of the South-South Leaders’ Forum, called on Rivers people to rise, as their votes were cast in favour of Fubara and not Wike.
He said, “It goes to show that somebody somewhere wants to show power. Constitutionally, the governor is empowered to run his state.
“But a situation where someone will say unless you give me XYZ, you
will not run; and that you don’t have any power to appoint anybody except I appoint for you.
“And you will be telling the governor what he will be collecting from the internally generated revenue as well as the Federation account.
“There is a limit to how you can go. Rivers State belongs to all of us; it does not belong to one man.
“You have looted enough. There was an outcry, yet you are not satisfied. Having left and you now have a more juicy appointment, you are still not satisfied.
“You want to control Abuja, you want to control Rivers. There is a limit to it, and the governor is still loyal, he is still willing to serve you, you don’t want to give him breathing space and you’re showing him a knife that you want to cut off his head.
“He has gone beyond his boundary, and so the Rivers People should get up. Rivers people voted for Sim as Governor of Rivers State. We did not vote for Wike as Governor of Rivers State.
“Wike was brought by Jonathan and his wife. They made him governor. They did not dictate to him, he was not paying them. They were not asking him to bring all the money for them. So, why should he, because he assisted him? People assisted him in climbing.
“I, as an Elder statesman, condemn the action, but I’m not surprised the law of karma will naturally take its course.” He added.
Saraigbe advised Governor Fubara to take over the government of Rivers State and be mindful of whom he trusts.
“Mr. Governor should take steps. He has constitutional powers. He should take over the government. He should not rely on Wike or anybody because they are not trustworthy.
“Power is not something you play with. If you play with power, they will take from you and stab you. He has gotten the power and he has been loyal, but there is a limit to loyalty.”
Sairaigbe further asked that an investigation be launched to unravel the persons behind the explosion that rocked the Assembly complex on Tuesday.
“Who and how was the House of Assembly bombed, and why was it bombed? These are the reasons he will be calling the Security Council.
“For them to be shooting at the governor and pouring him water is a disgrace to Rivers people because he is the symbol of Rivers people today.
“And for you to point a gun at the governor, you have pointed a gun at Rivers people, for you to pour hot water on the governor, you have poured hot water on the Rivers people.
He also advised the governor to take over the House of Assembly, sack all those disloyal to him, and work with the few loyal to him.
“As a matter of urgency, the Speaker should be sacked; all the House officers should be sacked. Appoint a new Speaker, engineer them to appoint their own speaker, and let the new Speaker elect new officers.”
“All those that are not loyal should be removed from the government house, and his government, from local government to state government.
“He should take control and put those who are only loyal to him in those strategic positions.
“He must do that within the next two or three days so that he will take over the government.”
