Former Deputy National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Chief Olabode George, has called on President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to immediately intervene in the political crisis rocking Rivers State, saying that the president should not treat with levity the threat by some lawmakers in the state House of Assembly to impeach Governor Siminalayi Fubara.
Besides, Chief George equally called on elders and stakeholders of the party to immediately intervene in the political crisis rocking the oil-rich state “before it becomes a national conflagration.”
George made the call on Friday in a statement, a copy of which was made available to newsmen, saying that nobody should sit on the fence and pretend as if everything was okay, even as he insisted that the oil-bearing state belongs to the PDP.
According to him, his position is based on Section 109(1)(g) of the 1999 Constitution, which states that “a member of a House of Assembly shall vacate his seat in the House if, being a person whose election to the House of Assembly was sponsored by a political party, he becomes a member of another political party before the expiration of the period for which that House was elected.”
George, therefore, declared that all the PDP lawmakers who defected to the All Progressives Congress (APC) had automatically lost their seats, insisting that “they are in no position to threaten Governor Fubara.”
“So, their plot to commence impeachment proceedings against the governor is already in vain.
“Rivers belong to the PDP. Those threatening to impeach the governor are being remote-controlled by some forces. This must stop because if Rivers is set on fire today, that may end this democracy,” he warned.
“We should remember ‘Operation Wetie’ which started in the defunct Western Region, eventually consumed the nation, and ended the First Republic in 1966,” he sadly recalled.
The PDP chieftain, therefore, called on actors in the crisis rocking Rivers State to avoid actions likely to cause breaches of peace and breakdowns of law and order in the country, just as he charged Members of the Board of Trustees (BoT) of the main opposition to equally “act swiftly and nip this crisis in the bud before it consumes everybody.
“All the actors in this crisis in Rivers should avoid actions likely to cause breaches of peace and breakdowns of law and order in our country.
“Members of the Board of Trustees (BoT) of our party should be the elders in the room, act swiftly, and nip this crisis in the bud before it consumes everybody.
“All the gladiators should also think of the collective interests of Nigerians.
“Whether we are members of the PDP, APC, or other parties, we should stop issuing provocative statements to increase the tension in Rivers.
“Any move that can truncate this democracy must be stopped immediately. Enough is enough,” George cautioned.
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