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Rivers State Governor, Siminalayi Fubara
The Special Assistant to the Rivers State Governor on Electronic Media, Jerry Omatsogunwa, has called on the National Working Committee of the Peoples to pronounce his principal as leader of the party in the state.
Omatsogunwa said the NWC must immediately correct the anomaly in the Rivers PDP, where the immediate-past governor, Nyesom Wike, is contending with Governor Siminalayi Fubara for the leadership of the party in the state.
Speaking with one of our correspondents on the telephone on Tuesday, Omatsogunwa said since the return to democracy in 1999, the trend has been that the incumbent governor in a state will be the leader of the ruling party in the state, wondering why that of Fubara was different.
Fubara and Wike have been enmeshed in a political crisis since late last year and their feud has led to the factionalisation of the Rivers PDP.
The Rivers PDP held its ward and local government congresses and on Saturday held the state congress with Fubara absent while Wike took charge.
The PDP Governors’ Forum has called for the cancellation of the Rivers ward and local government congresses giving the control of the party leadership to Wike.
However, Wike, speaking at the weekend warned PDP governors to stay out of the crisis between him and Fubara in Rivers, warning that he had the capacity to destabilise their states.
The PDP NWC will be meeting today (Wednesday) and one of the major issues that will likely take centre stage is the threat by Wike.
Speaking with The PUNCH, Omatsogunwa called on the NWC to restore the Rivers PDP leadership to Fubara.
He stated, “They (NWC) should do the right thing. The right thing is that the governor is the leader of the party in the state and his (Fubara’s) own case should not be different.
“When Dr Peter Odili was the Governor of Rivers State, he was the political leader of the state and also the leader of the party, that is the PDP. Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi took over and also became the leader of the party and the political leader of the state. Nyesom Wike became the political leader of the state and also the leader of the party.
“So, the anomalies in the whole system are what the Governors’ forum intends to correct tomorrow (today). And they can work with the National Working Committee to make sure that these anomalies don’t go far.
“If they allow it (anomalies) to fly. I just pity the PDP because the governor, since they have toed the line with our governor, Siminalayi Fubara, may also decide to rock the boat.
“They can decide to say okay sink or float with this man. Another issue is that there was a court order, ordering these people not to carry out the ward and local government congresses, which they said they have done.”
Omatsogunwa warned that the PDP might lose Rivers State to the opposition party if the crisis was not well handled, noting that it was an internal crisis that wreaked the All Progressives Congress in the state.
“Remember the All Progressives Congress had the same issue when the court gave them an order in 2019 not to go ahead with congresses, but they went ahead and you know the result where there was no candidate for disobedience of court order.
“The Supreme Court specifically said that you cannot benefit from your stupidity. I hope the PDP will not wallow in stupidity and so that we will not regret the stupidity in the end since the court has given that order.
“So I hope that the right thing will be done, the governor given the structure and the leadership of the party so that he can move and do well.”
Meanwhile, a member of the PDP National Executive Committee and party’s Deputy National Youth Leader, Timothy Osadolor, also urged the NWC and the governors’ forum to address Wike’s threats to the party’s unity.
In an exclusive interview with The PUNCH, Osadolor criticised Wike’s threats to the PDP governors as unnecessary and distasteful.
He stated, “I think the speech by former governor Wike was very unnecessary and unsavoury.
“Wike’s statement is unfortunate. A man who should be busy apologising to the party or trying to seek reconciliation should not be grandstanding, throwing tantrums, and issuing threats to governors who are keeping the party’s flag flying.
“So, I think it’s high time the Governors’ Forum and the NWC sat down and took a position on leaders like Wike, no matter how highly placed or how much interest the person has. They need to address such leaders squarely and draw the line firmly and clearly so that in the future you won’t have these types of people playing larger than life in the PDP. The party is supreme and must act as a supreme entity. I believe that an adequate response should be given to the threat he (Wike) was making.
“As an officer of the party, I would think that he has made one statement too many. It’s time to tell him that, ‘Look, you’re either in or you’re out’. What that means is that if he wants to be in the party, he must play and live by the rules; if he wants to be outside the party, let him be outside the party umbrella and throw his tantrums. But his move to remain in the party while undermining it will not be tolerated.”
