By Daniel Abia
The socio-cultural mouthpiece of the Ijaw-speaking people of the Niger Delta region, Ijaw National Congress, INC, has urged the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, and its leadership to assume responsibility for protecting Rivers State Governor, Siminalayi Fubara, from possible impeachment.
INC warned that if the ongoing impeachment process against Fubara and his deputy, Prof Ngozi Odu, over alleged “gross misconduct” by the state House of Assembly scales through, “we will see this as a clear betrayal of the Ijaw Nation”.
Speaking exclusively with our reporter over the weekend at the wake of the renewed push to continue with the impeachment process on the governor and his deputy, the President of the INC, Prof Benjamin Okaba, called on the leadership of the APC to rise up to the occasion and defend one of their own from being “wrongly chased out of office”.
“APC has a responsibility to defend Sim Fubara. But if Fubara is eventually impeached, then we will see this as a clear betrayal of the Ijaw nation”, Okaba said. He noted that the plot to impeach the governor out of office is “a case of vendetta, and it must not be allowed to happen. That is why the APC leadership must stand up to this threat”.
Commenting on the four lawmakers who earlier proposed a political solution to the escalating tension in the state but later rescinded on Friday, Prof Okaba said the four’s attitude is an indication that “they have no integrity”. He noted that “some of these lawmakers in the Assembly are being cajoled to do what they are doing. It is very unfortunate”.
Recall that the Minority Leader, Sylvanus Nwankwo, who also represents Omuma state constituency, Peter Abbey (Degema Constituency), Barile Nwakoh (Khana Constituency I), and Emilia Amadi (Obio/Akpor Constituency II) had earlier shifted grounds on the impeachment last week.
“We are begging and calling on our colleagues to reconsider our step and see how this matter can be resolved amicably, even though the governor and deputy governor have infringed on the constitution, but we are appealing to them to reconsider our stand”, Nwankwo said.
It was shocking that last Friday, the four lawmakers rejoined other colleagues calling for the continuation of the impeachment process on Governor Fubara and Deputy Governor Odu.
“This attitude shows that the Assembly is made up of people who don’t have principles. Their attitude is to actualize a certain goal of an individual which could be destructive to our democracy, peace and unity of our people”.
The INC President noted that though the impeachment process by the Rivers state Assembly is “a fruitless effort, it is the work of godfatherism taken too far”, adding that if Governor Fubara is impeached, INC will make a decision.
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