
The Rivers State Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Elders Committee has tackled a former governor in the state, Chief Rufus Ada George over his attack on the Federal Capital Territory Minister, Nyesom Wike.
In a letter dated 13th September, 2024 and addressed to President Bola Tinubu, the committee described Ada George as a “meddlesome interloper” who does not speak for the people of Rivers State.
The letter was signed by prominent elders which include the Chairman of the Rivers Elders Forum, Chief Ferdinand Alabraba; Chief Emmanuel Anyanwu; former president of the Nigerian Bar Association, Chief O C J Okocha (SAN); Senator George T Sekibo, former Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Rt Hon Chibudom Nwuche; Senator Olaka Nwogu, Chief Ken Chikere, Chief Frank Owhor, Chief Kenneth Kobani, Ambassador Desmond Akawor, Chief Boma Iyaye Chief Felix Obuah, Rt Hon Ikunyi Owaji-Ibani, Professor Henry Ogiri, Chief Emmanuel Deeya, Dr Sampson Parker, Alabo Dakorinama George-Kelly, Chief Marcus Nle-Eji, Hon Isobo Jack, Chief Igo Aguma, Barr Rufus N Godwins; DG of NOSDRA, Engineer Chukwuemeka Woke, and Chief Nyema Weil.
The elders also accused Ada George of encouraging Governor Siminalayi Fubara to renege on the peace brokered between him and Wike by President Tinubu.
They said that the letter written by the elder statesman and his group does not represent the interests of the Rivers State people.
“From all indications, the subject-matter of that open letter is the statement made by Chief Barrister Nyesom Wike, CON, immediate past Governor of Rivers State and the current Minister of the FCT, at the recently successfully concluded Rivers PDP State Congress held in Port Harcourt. The letter also included other matters totally irrelevant to the subject-matter but designed deliberately to attack the person of the Honourable Minister.
“Ordinarily, we would have completely ignored the publication for two reasons. First, the letter was written by an amorphous group falsely claiming to be speaking for Rivers people and secondly, the authors are mere meddlesome interlopers in a purely Rivers PDP affair. But for the benefit of the reading public, we deem it necessary to correct the various false claims, petty insinuations and outright misrepresentations contained in their letter.
“The Minister, speaking at the Rivers PDP State Congress held in Port Harcourt, informed delegates of attempts by some PDP Governors to interfere with Rivers politics and political crisis and went on to advise such Governors to steer clear as anything contrary shall elicit a retaliatory response from him as he would also interfere in the politics of those states,” the Elders said.
The committee defended the Minister, stating that his metaphorical comment during the Rivers PDP congress was to drive home his point, adding that he did not imply that he would bring in arms and ammunition or bring in petrol to set fire in any State.
“That was the statement made by the Minister and which Chief Rufus Ada George and his group took out of context, mischievously twisted and characterized as “an invocation of violence”. This is the latest act of grandstanding by Chief Rufus Ada George and his group pretending to support the Governor of Rivers State, Sir Siminalayi Fubara, GSSRS, while masking their real motive to escalate and prolong the political crisis in Rivers State for their selfish interests.
“We are not surprised at the antics of this same group who, on 26th December 2023, addressed that ill-conceived letter titled “Peace in Galilee” to the Governor of Rivers State, urging him to renege on his commitment to peace as enshrined in the peace plan brokered by the President and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, His Excellency, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, GCFR,” they said.
The Elders also accused Ada George and his group of not wanting peace in the state by instituting several lawsuits to stall the implementation of the President’s Peace Plan by Governor Fubara.
They stated that the latest letter sent by the group to President Tinubu to malign Wike has again exposed them as the people fuelling and setting “real fire” into the crisis in Rivers State.”
They appealed to the President to ensure that every member of the group are interrogated by the security agencies for invocation of violence in Rivers State.
“Oherwise how else can one characterise such elders who are only out to escalate the crisis in the State even when the Governor himself had committed to peace. It is therefore laughable that they have the impudence to send a letter of appeal to Mr President whose kind and fatherly intervention to resolve the Rivers crisis was rebuffed by them.
“Furthermore, the letter by the Chief Rufus Ada George group is replete with several false and frivolous narratives totally irrelevant to the subject-matter, all in an effort to tarnish the political standing and achievements of Chief Nyesom Wike but they failed woefully in that regard and only succeeded in exposing themselves as truly envious of his unassailable political profile which is already in the public domain,” the letter read.
The committee hailed Wike, saying that he left an “indelible legacy of achievements unmatched by any former Governor of Rivers State and this was openly attested to at several public fora by no less a personality than a former two-time Governor of Rivers State, His Excellency, Sir (Dr) Peter Odili CON, GSSRS.”
They said “His Excellency, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, GCFR, recognized Wike’s achievements, appointed him Minister of the FCT and Wike is currently replicating his excellent performance as Governor in the FCT.
“It was therefore no surprise that Wike, who received the prestigious Presidential Award of Excellence on Infrastructural Delivery as Governor of Rivers State has again been honoured with that award as Minister of the FCT. We expected Chief Rufus Ada George and his elders to commend this proud son of Rivers State for that uncommon feat and stop frustrating themselves by writing frivolous letters against him.
The elders noted with sadness that, the group, in pursuit of their “clannish agenda and leveraging on the political crisis in Rivers State have made it their “pre-occupation to write open letters with Chief Nyesom Wike as their target.”
“These are people who did not supported Tinubu for President and not happy that Wike was invited to serve as Minister in the Tinubu administration and is doing very well.
“It is only fair to remind them that Wike is a visionary leader, highly detribalized, whose principled stance on zoning and power-sharing, not only at the national level but also in Rivers State, puts him way above their divisive ethnic sentiments. Wike handed over a peaceful State to his successor.”
They stated that Wike’s tenure as Governor was not “only successful in delivering unparalleled dividends of democracy but also positively changed the dynamics of inter-ethnic relationships through his strategic collaboration with the political leadership of the ethnic groups in the State.”
“Whether Chief Rufus Ada George , Chief E K Clark and their elders like it or not, Wike still maintains a very huge and stable political following in Rivers State.
The elders also noted that the people of Rivers have lost faith in Ada George and his group, after Wike and Fubara failed to attend a reconciliation meeting set ho bu them, urging them to “reflect on that clear failing and play a more constructive role by placing the interest of the State above personal gains. ”
“It is now clear beyond doubt that the resentful attitude of the Chief Rufus Ada- George group towards the Tinubu presidency is the same, if not worse, than their attitude towards Wike’s Ministerial status. They should have examined their conscience to know if they deserved to be heard by Mr President, having rejected his Peace Plan and continued to put fire into the political crisis in the State.”
They urged President Tinubu to disregard their letter in its entirety for lacking merit and being unreasonable.
“For the Chief Rufus Ada George group and the likes of Chief E.K Clark we advise them to assume a more noble role as statesmen as every attempt at witch-hunting Chief Nyesom Wike will remain a wild goose chase and refrain from further fuelling the crisis in Rivers State so that the Governor, H.E. Sir Siminalayi Fubara, who they refused to support during the elections, can govern in an atmosphere of peace and tranquillity,” they concluded.