Conference of Speakers from 36 State Houses of Assembly has appealed to relevant political leaders in Rivers State to explore peaceful means to resolve the near impasse between the legislative and executive arms of the state government.
The call was contained in a communiqué issued at the end of a meeting attended by twenty-nine speakers in Abuja.
Gov. Siminalaye Fubara had recently disclosed that in seeking peaceful resolution to the political crisis that erupted in the state last year, he had attended several reconciliation meetings, whose resolutions the other party led by the former governor and now Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike had rebuffed.
This is even as the Martin Amaewhule- led lawmakers said to be loyal to the minister also accused the governor of deliberately withholding his assent from bills already passed, terminating the peace deal brokered by President Bola Tinubu on December 18, 2023.
At the ceremony for the official flag-off of the Elele-Egbeda-Omoku Road project in Emohua Local Government Area on Thursday, Gov. Fubara insisted his administration had been taking the path of peace.
“We have made our promise to our leader, who happens to be the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, that we will take the path of peace and that is the part we are taking.
“We will continue to take that path. Peace remains the path to take. While taking the path of that peace, it does not mean that we won’t defend ourselves, or let me describe it this way: we will not just be like a tree seeing someone coming to cut it down, and won’t do anything. No, no no. We need to also protect ourselves in a lawful manner.”
It would be recalled that Fubara and Wike alongside other stakeholders including the Speaker of the state assembly, Martin Amaewhule,had in December last year, signed a resolution document after a meeting with President BolaTinubu, to end political crisis in the state.
