Rivers governor Siminalayi Fubara has again criticised the attitude of the members of the Rivers State House of Assembly towards his administration.
According to the governor, the assembly members will cease to exist as legislators if he so decides.
He said the lawmakers are existing based on his recognition predicated on the Peace Accord initiated by President Bola Tinubu.
Fubara said this while addressing a delegation of political and traditional leaders from Bayelsa State who visited him at the Government House in Port Harcourt, the state capital.
Fubara told the delegation which was led by the former governor of Bayelsa State and Senator representing Bayelsa West, Henry Siriake Dickson, that he has been the one showing restriant since the crisis escalated in the state.
He said despite wielding state powers which he can deploy to achieve his aim, he has continued to act as the big brother in the face of intimidation and unwarranted attacks.
“Those group of men who claim that are Assembly members are not Assembly members, they are not existing. I want it to be on record. I accepted that Peace Accord to give them a floating. That is the truth,” he said.
“There was nothing in that Peace Accord that’s a constitutional issue; it’s a political solution to a problem. And I accepted it because these were people that were eating in my house, these were people I have helped paid their children’s school fees when I wasn’t even a governor. So, what is the thing there?
“We might have our division but I believe that one day, we could also come together but it has gotten to a time when I have to make a statement that they are not existing. Their existence is me allowing them to exist. If I de-recognise them, they are nowhere. I want you to see the sacrifice I have made in allowing peace to reign in our state.”
Fubara revealed that he had always been present at any meeting that was called to resolve the crisis in the state but after each meeting, he was met with a new dimension of the crisis from the opposing side.
He vowed to continued to be peaceful, acknowledging that power is transient.
Fubara acknowledged the role played by some political leaders, especially his predecessor and FCT minister Nyesom Wike in his emergence as governor but said that such efforts won’t make him to worship a man.
He attributed his emergence as divine, saying God can use anyone, including one’s enemy to accomplish His purpose in a man’s life.
He also decried the use of police officere to intimidate his supporters, despite showing restraint in the crisis.
Governor Fubara also decried how some of his commissioners were sabotaging him.
He said on an occasion, the Governor of Bayelsa State, Douye Diri was the person who briefed him about an important information that a commissioner was supposed to have informed him.
In his speech, the leader of the Bayelsa delegation, Dickson, highlighted the cultural and political bond between Rivers and Bayelsa, saying it is important both states stay united.
He called for the preservation of their historic connection, stressing that the creation of Bayelsa State should not lead to division but rather be an opportunity for mutual benefit.
Senator Dickson also commended Governor Fubara for his efforts to resolve the disputes between both states by paying the first visit to his Bayelsa counterpart earlier this year.
