Chieftain of the All Progressives Congress, Chief Eze Chukwuemeka Eze, has maintained that the impeachment proceedings against Governor Siminalayi Fubara was being influenced by the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike.
In a statement made available to media houses on Tuesday, the APC chieftain alleged that the Minister engineered the lawmakers to impeach the governor for the mere reason that he refused to open up channels for the FCT Minister to have access to the finances of the state.
He said, “This will make it the third time the Rivers State House of Assembly will be embarking on the checkered voyage of impeachment of the Governor who has been on a long-drawn battle to sever the gang of kleptomaniacs led by the FCT Minister from the common patrimony of Rivers people.
“Clearly speaking, the convergence of the Marthins Amaewhule led Assembly to impeach the Governor and his Deputy is clearly to serve one purpose, not because Siminalayi has done anything wrong, but simply because that is what Wike wants. All actions of the Rivers State House of Assembly are scripted and sanctioned by Wike. He dictates to them what to do per time including when to sit and the items to discuss during plenary. It is a typical example of an assembly of morons.
“To me, the latest indulgence of the Rivers State House of Assembly is a declaration of war against the state and her people. It is Wike and his gang against the state and her people.
“Given the slow pace of governance since the end of the emergency rule, one would have loved to see President Tinubu tilt his actions towards the people of Rivers State. But given that he depends so much on electoral manipulation which is Wike’s stock in trade, he appears to be unbothered that his appointee is displaying with manifest impunity, the level of madness we’re seeing in Rivers State.
“Wike has insulted Rivers State and her people enough for the president to call him to order.
“If the so-called Rivers State House of Assembly Speaker, Martin wants to be Governor, he should formally present himself for election in 2027 and not attempt to go through the backdoor as he is bent on doing as Wike has directed.
“It is a shame that Wike would be going around abusing and threatening both the President and the leadership of the APC and Tinubu is just watching him like zombie. Tinubu has fetched an ant-infested firewood into the APC and the result is fast becoming obvious.
“It is more urgent now than ever for President Tinubu to rein-in on the Minister who, since late last year, had left his duty post in Abuja to embark on a fruitless, meaningless political voyage across local governments in Rivers State. An avenue he has since been using to constitute a gross nuisance, embarrassing the President, insulting and threatening the All Progressives Congress and its leadership and talking-down on the Governor of Rivers State.
“The President must overlook his hope on Wike to rig elections for him in Rivers State and act on good conscience based on the moral obligation on him to address the avoidable unrefined, embarrassing menace that is fueling another round of political crisis which in effect is grounding the wheel of progress in the governance of the state.” Eze stated.
It would be recalled that the State House of Assembly had denied claims that the Minister instigated the fresh impeachment process against the governor .
The Assembly’s spokesperson, Enemi George, maintained that lawmakers were acting strictly in line with constitutional provisions and not under the direction or influence of any political actor.
