Bode George, a former Deputy National Chairman of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), has called on President Bola Tinubu and relevant stakeholders and elders of the PDP to intervene in the political crisis rocking Rivers State, News About Nigeria reports.
The PDP chieftain further tasked President Tinubu not to treat the threat by some lawmakers in the state to impeach Governor Siminalayi Fubara casually.
Speaking in a statement released today, Bode further noted that Rivers State belongs to the PDP and that it was clear that the people of the state voted for Fubara in the last election.
The statement partly reads, “Rivers people belong to 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. 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 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.”
The deputy national chairman of the PDP also noted that the 27 lawmakers of the State House of Assembly loyal to the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, lack the locus standi to impeach Governor Fubara.
According to him, this is because 27 of them lost their seats when they defected from the PDP, a platform on which they were elected to the All Progressives Congress (APC).
To buttress this claim, Bode quoted 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, when elected to the House of Assembly, he becomes a member of another political party before the expiration of the period for which that House was elected.
