By Deborah Nnamdi
Rivers-based activist, Jake Epelle, on Thursday told the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike that any impeachment move against Governor Siminalayi Fubara will fail.
Speaking on ‘The Morning Brief’, a programme on Channels Television, the activist warned the former governor to stop issuing impeachment threats against Fubara.
He stated that Wike cannot advocate peace and yet spur his loyalists in the Martins Amaewhule-led legislative body to impeach the governor.
“Let them go and try impeachment, they will not succeed. Nobody will impeach Fubara. I say that openly on national television because he hasn’t committed any impeachable offence.
“Nobody will impeach him; the people are solidly behind him.“Will anything happen if he is impeached? No; the Rivers people are not troublesome the way we are painted but we will stand behind him (Fubara) and stand behind democracy.
“If we don’t stem the tide of this chaos, it can happen to any other person. This threat of impeachment going round should stop,” he said.
Epelle faulted the Assembly for embarrassing the governor and for not committing to the path of peace. He also carpeted Wike for inflaming the situation with his impeachment threat against Fubara.
Epelle said, “Wike doesn’t have the constitutional power to impeach a governor. He can call for impeachment (but) he is not a member of the State Assembly.
“He has the right in his personal opinion to call for his (Fubara’s) impeachment but the people that will execute the impeachment are members of the State Assembly. Is there anybody beating the drum for the masquerade that is dancing? Of course, there is.
Recall that Fubara was on Wednesday denied access to the Rivers State House of Assembly quarters, where lawmakers currently hold plenary sessions.
The governor said he communicated his visit to Amaewhule but the Assembly said it received no correspondence to the effect.
“I was told that at the point that the governor was coming to the gate, they (assembly members) received a call from Abuja (whoever made that call, I don’t know), that they shouldn’t see the governor.” he added.
