Engineer Udengs Eradiri, former President of the Ijaw Youths Council (IYC) Worldwide, has expressed disappointment over the politicization of the reconciliation process required to restore democratic governance in Rivers State.
Eradiri carpeted the suspended Rivers Governor, Sir Siminalayi Fubara, for not sincerely displaying expected willingness and commitment to genuine reconciliation.
Eradiri speaking on Wednesday in Yenagoa, said he was disturbed to hear that Fubara had not deepened the reconciliation process after his first meeting with his estranged godfather and Minister of the FCT, Chief Nyesom Wike.
Eradiri, a former Commissioner for Youths and later Environment in Bayelsa, advised Fubara to sit up and show leadership by owning the reconciliation process and avoiding optics of showmanship capable of truncating the Rivers peace process.
“I was disturbed, shocked and surprised to hear that the suspended Governor Fubara has yet to hold reconciliatory meetings with some critical stakehokderd such as the Speaker and members of the suspended House of Assembly, aggrieved Rivers elders and those local government chairmen, who were once in the same political family with him.
“The recent media chat of Chief Wike is instructive and revealing especially where he said that Governor Fubara was doing reconciliation on television and radio. This for me is a low mark and does not sit well with the required antidote to resolve the crisis and return democracy to Rivers.
“Suddenly, those who called themselves Fubara’s have resumed their singing and dancing and shows where the make remarks and cast innuendos inimical to any peace process. Fubara must discourage his supporters from engaging in similar political showbiz and busybody that worsened the crisis in Rivers.”
Eradiri said Fubara should be thinking of engaging with governors elected on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to withdraw the case they instituted at the Supreme Court on emergency rule against President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
“This is where I think by now the reconciliation should progress to. There is nothing the President can do on this matter because that case at the Supreme Court has tied his hands.
“The matter is subjudice and Fubara is expected to reach out to the governors to withdraw the matter as part of the reconciliation process.
“Governor Fubara should also know that if he is reinstated without genuine reconciliation, the bad blood will continue and may lead to his impeachment.
” Lack of reconciliation will only return the state to a violent part and make nonsense of the emergency rule instituted to save him from impeachment,” he said.
