The
Rivers State Peoples Forum has said that, for peace to return to the
state, the Minister of State for Education, Chief Nyesom Wike, cannot
give conditions to the Governor Rotimi Amaechi.
Wike had, during an interaction with
newsmen in Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital, on Saturday,
insisted that those that were bent on making Obio/Akpor Local Government
Area uncomfortable would be made uncomfortable.
He was quoted to have said that for
peace to return to the state, the governor must return the suspended
chairman of Obio/Akpor Local Government Area and councilors to their
positions.
The minister is from the local government area.
The lingering Rivers crisis has its root
from the suspension of the Obio/Akpor Local Government Area chairmen
and the councilors by the Rivers House of Assembly in April.
A statement signed by the RSPF President, Mr. Charles Bekwele, dismissed Wike’s statement as ‘laughable and ridiculous’.
Bekwele explained that the minister was
in no position to give anyone conditions and insisted on its earlier
call that Wike must be arrested and prosecuted for threatening the peace
and people of Rivers State.
He said, “It is sad, very sad and
unfortunate that Wike, who has openly threatened the peace and people of
Rivers State, is still being allowed to roam the streets and make
further inciting comments.
“Who does he (Wike) think he is to say
the suspended Obio-Akpor council executive must be recalled for peace to
return to Rivers State?
“For crying out loud, these people were
suspended for monumental fraud and a serving minister is saying they
should be recalled just like that, without any investigations.
“Wike threatened the peace and people of
Rivers State. He said the state would be uncomfortable and
ungovernable. It is on record, on tape, the video is on the internet and
many newspapers reported it.
“He cannot try to twist it now. Wike
must be arrested and tried for threatening the peace and people of
Rivers State. The Inspector General of Police must act now. This man
should not be allowed to roam the streets and continue to make more
inciting comments.”
He also dismissed claims by the minister that his campaign posters were the handiwork of his detractors.
Bekwele said it was no surprise to
Rivers people that Wike’s posters were in circulation because the
minister had always been campaigning for the governorship position in
the state.
“In Rivers State, it is a known fact
that Wike has been going round local government areas of the state every
week to fuel his campaign for governorship under the guise of
inaugurating his Grassroots Democratic Initiative group.
“It is belated for him to come out now
and cry wolf over his campaign posters being faked because it is already
clear to Rivers people and even the country that Wike is campaigning to
become governor and he started a long time ago,” the forum’s president
noted.
He observed that the minister was
engaged in campaigning for the state’s governorship position at a time
when varsity lecturers were still on strike.
“At a time when the country’s education
sector is in a state of comatose with the lingering strike by the
Academic Staff Union of Universities and the impending resumption of
strike by their Polytechnic counterparts, Wike is too busy campaigning
to be governor of Rivers State, even when there is no vacancy yet.
“Instead of Nyesom Wike, a junior
minister to join the Minister of Education to tackle the problem, he is
more interested in the local politics of Rivers State; going round the
state week-in, week-out with his campaign for governorship in clear
violation of INEC’s rule on 2015 campaigns,” Bekwele stressed.
But the Special Adviser to the minister,
Mr. Simeon Nwakaudu, insisted that Wike had never declared any
intention to contest the 2015 governorship election in Rivers State.
Nwakaudu, who spoke with our
correspondent on Sunday, said it was wrong for anybody to insinuate that
the minister declared an intention to run for the position of the
governor.
On the claim that Wike had abandoned his
job to face local politics in the state, Nwakaudu said the minister had
never abandoned his work.
According to him, the minister is always working from Monday to Friday and visits his family like any other person.
Nwakaudu recalled that Wike met with
different committees on Almajiri education last week and also interacted
with the Anambra State Governor, Mr. Peter Obi, to discuss education
and its development in the state.
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