By Deborah Nnamdi
A former governorship candidate for the Labour Party (LP) in Bayelsa State, Mr. Udengs Eradiri, has urged the suspended Governor of Rivers State, Sir Siminalayi Fubara, to appeal to Nyesom Wike in order to alleviate the political tension in the state.
Eradiri maintained that the crisis in Rivers State was a result of the incompetence of the suspended governor and called on him to refrain from ethnicizing the issue.
He said: “As for Governor Siminalayi Fubara, he is incompetent and that is what has brought all this negative energy. He should not involve Ijaw in his political issues and affairs. Let him tell us how he has supported the Ijaws or Ijaw activities.
“How many Ijaws of Rivers State did he empower that he is demanding Ijaw support now? How many of the IYC comrades in the Eastern zone were LGA chairmen, commissioners and appointees in his government?
“I advise Fubara to go and kneel before Wike and beg for forgiveness. Those, who are deceiving him have no balls. They go cap in hand kneeling and begging the same Wike when they get it they come in the open to claim ijaw lions.
“Fubara did not buy form or even spoke a word during campaigns. Why should he now be disobeying and reneging on agreement? Men are those who keep their words and abide by agreements.”
Eradiri criticised the way and manner the Ijaw National Congress (INC) handled the Rivers crisis and warned the body against ethnicising political issues, insisting that the INC brought the Rivers embarrassment on the Ijaw nation.
“INC should not be romancing governors’ egos. The institution is bigger than them and once you belittle the INC before these incompetent governors then the institutions will be ripe for ridicule and insults. Nobody is more ijaw than any other, so INC should protect all interest and stay away from politics.
“Please, lets stop ethnicising political issues, Diri and Fubara should go fight their political party battles and leave ijaw nation out of politics. When it favors you you laugh and dance in thanksgiving , when it doesn’t favor you it becomes ijaw affair. Wike is not the ijaw enemy, you people are the real enemies,” Eradiri stated.
