WEDNESDAY March 12, 2025 |TheNewsDESK
An elder statesman and member of the Rivers State Elders and Leaders Forum, Anabs Sara-Igbehas, has condemned the action of lawmakers of the Rivers State House of Assembly for denying Governor Siminalayi Fubara access to the State Assembly Complex, ThePUNCH reports.
Sara-Igbe, pioneer spokesman for the Pan Niger Forum, described the action of the lawmakers as provocative and an insult to Rivers people.
Speaking in Port Harcourt on Wednesday, March 12, 2025, Sara-Igbe, who is the National Chairman of South South Elders Forum, said denying the governor access to the Assembly Complex was not an insult to Fubara as a person, but to the people of Rivers State.
He stated, “The governor was elected by millions of Rivers people. As the chief executive officer of the state, he has unhindered access to all the facilities within the state. Blocking him from entering the complex is a direct insult and embarrassment to the people of Rivers state.
“It is now very clear that the governor is ready for peace. But these people are not ready for peace. You can see that by their action. How can you bar a sitting governor from gaining access to a facility that belongs to the state?
“I appeal that he implements all the decisions stipulated by the Supreme Court judgment, even though I did not agree with some of those decisions.
“Let him implement them. Rivers people are watching. The world is watching.”
Sara-Igbe further said that Fubara has always wanted peace; hence on the advice of President Bola Tinubu, he withdrew the case he had against the lawmakers last year even when they refused to withdraw theirs.
On the comment by the FCT Minister, Nyesom Wike, who during a media chat on Wednesday morning said Fubara can be impeached and ‘heaven will not fall’, the elder statesman reminded that pouring insults on the Ijaw people will not help the former Governor and the current political situation in the state.
“He should remember that during the time of late President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua, the production rate of crude dropped drastically from 2.4million barrels per day to a paltry 700,000bpd until the elders of the Ijaw nation and the Niger Delta pleaded with the various militant groups including the Avengers, movement for the emancipation of the Niger Delta, among others to stay action.
“The nation’s economy today is at a sad point. We don’t want anything to happen to the crude oil production. The minister should be mindful of his utterances. While we plead for all parties in the crisis to follow the path of peace, we all should also mind what we say per time,” he stated.
