The Rivers Elders and Leaders Forum says it sees no peace in the “President’s Peace Proclamation” as regards the political crisis rocking Rivers State.
The statement by the forum follows a Christmas Day’s broadcast by Governor Siminalayi Fubara, where he pledged to fully implement the presidential peace agreement reached to resolve the ongoing political crisis in the state.
Governor Fubara reiterated in a statewide broadcast on Monday (Christmas Day) that no price is too high for peace to prevail in the state.
According to the governor, the peace deal, which has elicited mixed reactions from people across the country, is not a death sentence but a way towards lasting peace and stability in the state.
Reacting to the statement by Fubara, the Rivers Elders commended Governor Siminalayi Fubara for his comment, saying he expressed honesty and sincerity in accepting that the “President’s Peace Proclamation” has caused mixed reactions across the country.
Briefing journalists on Wednesday in Port Harcourt, former governor of Rivers State, Rufus Ada George, who read an open letter to the governor on behalf of the forum, noted that the peace accord signed at the presidential villa in Abuja “showed no sensitivity to the people’s security, political and social interests.”
The forum is of the opinion that the proclamation is a death sentence as it breaches all legal and constitutional rights sworn by the governor to uphold.
In the letter titled “Peace in Galilee,” the forum advised the governor to be guided by the constitution he swore to uphold in his quest to restore peace to the state.
According to the open letter by the elders, “The forum believes that there could be peace in Port Harcourt and indeed the entire Rivers State if only Your Excellency would be circumspect in your actions, measured in your engagements, and have a critical mind in your review of events.
“Therefore, Mr Governor, you have no constitutional or any other legal power to implement the ‘Presidential Peace Proclamation’.“
Responding to a question on whether the governor has ever responded to their previous comments on the issue in the state, George clarified that, “We are not acting for or on behalf of the governor. We are acting as individuals or group of residents and indigenes of Rivers State and we are acting in accordance with the law, the constitution.
“We don’t need to wait for advice or to listen to information or a piece of written messages. We act based on what we know and perceive to be factual. And we know that an agreement or proclamation was written which was not in the best interest of Rivers people and we are acting on that.
“The governor may be taking his actions unknown to us; we don’t know; we have not exchanged any direct correspondence in relation to this issue or proclamation. We are acting in the interest of the Rivers people.
George said the forum will act accordingly if the governor implements everything signed in the peace accord.
According to him, “We cannot predetermine what he will do or what will happen, but we believe that he will not take any action contrary to the law or contrary to the interests of the citizens of Rivers State.
On his part, Professor Edward Bristol Alagbarya, Head of the Legal Committee, Rivers Elders and Leadership Forum and Dean, Faculty of Law, University of Port Harcourt, said, “What the Elders Council is trying to do is to remind both parties in the dispute of the law that they swore to uphold, which is why one of the actions taken here is to ask the court to interpret the law.
“If he goes ahead to implement this against the court judgement, then that’s between him and the law.
Alagbarya clarified that the elders forum is not taking sides with any of the parties in the dispute, but are only calling the parties to order.
DAILY POST recalls that some members of the Rivers Elders and Leadership Forum have already filed a case at the Federal High Court in Abuja to declare the peace agreement brokered by the president between Governor Fubara and the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, unconstitutional.
The case is led by a member of the Rivers State House of Assembly representing Bonny State Constituency, Victor Jumbo, Senator Bennett Birabi, Senator Andrew Uchendu, Rear Admiral O.P. Fingesi, Ann Kio Briggs, and Emmanuel Deinma.
They also, in the suit, asked the court to order the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, to conduct a fresh election to replace 27 lawmakers who defected from the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, to the All Progressives Congress, APC.
The political crisis in Rivers State is predicated on the sudden rift between Governor Fubara and Wike.
The actual reasons for the duo going their separate ways, barely six months after Fubara’s inauguration has been widely speculated.
The crisis has, however, affected the legislative arm of the state, leading to two factions – one loyal to the governor and the other loyal to the minister.
The president is said to have intervened in the political crisis in the state, leading to a purported peace deal signed on December 18 by both parties, a deal, which has been widely criticized by many, including the Chairman of the Pan-Niger Delta Forum, Pa Edwin Clark.
Many have also said the peace deal appeared to be more in favour of Wike.
