A former Security Adviser to former governor Peter Odili of Rivers State, His Highness Anabs Sara-Igbe, on Tuesday reacted to the defection of 27 members of the state House of Assembly from the Peoples Democratic Party to the All Progressives Congress.
He alleged that the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory and former governor of the state, Nyesom Wike, knew about the defection of the lawmakers, saying such smacks of inconsistency on his part, having in the past described the APC as a cancer and the PDP a mere malaria.
Sara-Igbe, who is the National Coordinator, South South Leadership Forum, said it was surprising that Wike was now drifting towards the ‘cancerous’ APC he once attacked. He noted, however, that Wike was inviting karma for working against his party, the PDP.
Speaking when he appeared on Arise TV on Tuesday morning, he stated, “Nyesom Wike, who initially said APC was a cancer unlike the PDP which was malaria, is gradually moving to the cancer, and the cancer is now spreading to affect several persons in the state.
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“We are surprised that one man wants to be in control of PDP and APC in Rivers State. In politics, you must have an ideology. That shows there is no ideology in the politics we are playing.
“Recently, he has (allegedly) moved 27 members from the PDP to APC, and this was a man who championed the fact that you cannot take the votes of a party to another party, but here he is, encouraging people to defect.”
Sara-Igbe said there was no problem in the PDP to justify the lawmakers’ defection, and that the law remained clear on their fate.
He noted, “We didn’t hear of any crisis in the PDP. If they have any crisis in the House of Assembly, the Assembly is not PDP. For them to move from the PDP to the APC means they have violated the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, and therefore they should be asked to vacate their seats and their seats declared vacant, because they have left the party on which they were elected.”
He called for a speedy resolution to the crisis in the state, saying given what the state contributes to the national economy, ostensibly in terms of crude oil production, there might be consequences for the economy if the crisis was allowed to degenerate.
He stated, “I think Mr President should be wary of these things. If things continue like this, it will go beyond politics to economy. Rivers State is a very special state in Nigeria, in terms of the economy, and any political crisis might spill over to the economy. We as elders are asking them to come down and resolve their differences amicably, so that there will be peace in the state.”
Asked why the PDP had been unable to sanction Wike despite alleged anti-party activities, he stated, “What I see playing out today is the karma that Wike is trying to put on himself. When you do certain things, karma will come and how it will come, you don’t know. (Governor) Siminalayi Fubara is a loyal party member and loyal to Wike to a fault. And because he’s so loyal, Wike may think he can rubbish him, but I can tell you that because of what Wike has done in the past, Fubara may not be willing to fight him, and Wike will fight himself.
“All the things he has done in the PDP, there is karma.”
He recalled how similar attempts were made to rubbish Odili but that what goes around would always come around.
He said, “When they were to set up a judicial enquiry against former governor Peter Odili, I was a lone voice who said ‘don’t do it’, but Wike and (former governor Rotimi) Amaechi did’. Their target was not even Peter Odili, but Abiye Sekibo, but you cannot divorce Abiye Sekibo from Peter Odili. They tried to rubbish Odili. Today, we are alive; Wike rubbished Amaechi, as a karma, and we are also seeing Wike trying to invite karma to himself.
“And on the PDP not doing anything to Wike, I think nature has its own course. Anything you are doing without the hand of God is you fooling yourself. Wike is not consistent.”
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