The One Rivers Initiative (ORI), a pan-Rivers group of patriots, hereby condemns the utterances and conduct of Mr. Nyesom Wike, former governor of Rivers State and current FCT Minister under President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
We begin with the recently concluded congresses held by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) across Nigeria. It must be stated that Mr. Wike not only organized an illegal congress in Rivers State against existing court judgments but, in his typical braggadocious manner, declared himself the undisputed “monarch & owner” of the structure of Rivers PDP. What an affront to the rule of law in Nigeria! Never, in the history of Nigeria, has a public servant so blatantly assaulted and undermined public decency as Wike has in Rivers State.
Wike not only made a mockery of the party congresses but also cleverly attempted to lure Governor Fubara into conducting a parallel congress. This move was aimed at achieving his nefarious intention to create a division within the Rivers PDP and justify the defection of his stranded House of Assembly members. The calm response from the Rivers State Government thwarted his devious plans. The sooner Wike and his allies understand that the rule of law and democracy are intertwined, the better it will be for the health of our democracy.
The situation worsened when Wike, like an emperor with clay feet, in a display of intolerance and arrogance, threatened to destabilize states across Nigeria where governors hold views contrary to his own. This is indeed a matter of national security concern. It is our belief that the DSS and other security agencies should have, by now, summoned Wike to clarify this statement. There must be a limit to political sophistry and brinkmanship in Nigeria.
A nation in a critical security situation like Nigeria can no longer turn a blind eye to individuals who behave as if they are greater than the state.
History and humanity cannot afford to revert to the era of Louis XIV (1643-1715), who equated himself with the state. Wike must be reminded that Nigeria is a democracy. Even in modern nation-states where vestiges of monarchy still exist, their powers have been drastically curtailed. Wike cannot take Rivers State and Nigeria back to those periods of absolutism.
The One Rivers Initiative (ORI) will henceforth use any lawful means necessary to call Mr. Nyesom Wike to order and prevent him from undermining the institutions that represent the corporate existence of Rivers State and Nigeria. We will not allow Rivers State and Nigeria to buckle under the oppressive, vexatious, and destructive tendencies of one man whose philosophy is: “destroy what you cannot control.”
For ORI, this is a patriotic duty, and we intend to carry it out without fear of intimidation.
Signed,
Victor Burubo
Director, Media and Publicity
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