Chief Edwin Clark, the leader of the Pan Niger Delta Forum (PANDEF), expressed on Monday that he believes Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, is the mastermind behind the plan to impeach Governor Siminalaye Fubara of Rivers State.
The Rivers State House of Assembly initiated an impeachment process against the governor, who then went to the Assembly, where he was subjected to tear gas by the police.
In a statement issued on Monday, Clark voiced his great concern about the reported events that have unfolded in Rivers State in the past 24 hours. He stated that he had been reliably informed about a scheme to unjustly remove Governor Fubara, who had been in office for only about five months.
Clark explained that he learned that this unfortunate episode was being orchestrated by Wike, with the aim of ousting the governor, compelling his deputy, Professor Ngozi Odu, to resign, and installing the Speaker of the House of Assembly, another Ikwerre individual, as the governor of the state.
Clark asserted that they would not allow this to happen, and he urged President Bola Tinubu to call Nyesom Wike and the security agencies in Rivers State to order in order to prevent any potential crisis in Rivers State. He warned that the consequences of such actions would be severe, impacting the stability of the region and the national economy.
Clark questioned the reasons behind the move to impeach Governor Fubara and suggested it might be because he refused to be further “remote-controlled.” He also noted that Nyesom Wike had served as governor for eight years without such hassles and governed Rivers State in an authoritative manner, without showing respect or regard for anyone, not even those who helped him attain power in 2015.