Rivers crisis: Call Wike to order, Clark tells Tinubu

Elder statesman and Ijaw leader, Edwin Clark, has urged President Bola Tinubu to intervene in the current political crisis in Rivers State.

Clark’s appeal specifically targets the Minister of Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, urging Tinubu to advise and caution him.

He made the call in response to the impeachment notice served the state governor, Siminalaye Fubura, by members of the state House of Assembly,

Speaking at a press briefing on Monday, Clark said the President should caution Wike and the security agencies in order to avert any untold crisis in the state.
“I have been greatly disturbed by the reported developments in Rivers State in the last 24 hours. I have been reliably informed that there is a plot to unlawfully remove the Governor of Rivers State, Siminalaye Fubara, who has spent only about five months in office.”

Clark claimed that the current crisis is aimed at removing the governor, force his deputy, Prof Ngozi Odu, to resign, and install the Speaker of the House of Assembly.
“Let me warn strongly, we won’t allow that to happen,” he vowed.

He continued, “Last night, the hallowed chamber of the Rivers State House of Assembly was burnt, in what apparently is part of the plot to destabilise the state.

“The governor was tear-gassed and was even threatened with being shot at when he visited the Assembly Complex after the incident, to assess the level of damage.

“We are not in a barbaric state where people can do whatever they like; we are in a democracy and the tenets of constitutional democracy must be upheld by all

“Rivers people have suffered enough political crises, the state should not be allowed to degenerate again into its dark past, and the Niger Delta Region by extension. The consequences would be dire for the stability of the region and the national economy.”

Clark emphasised that urgent action must be taken by Tinubu to prevent the escalating crisis in the state before it becomes unpreventable.