Rivers State crisis could end Nigeria’s democracy – Bode George

•Fears another ‘Operation Wetie’ is in the making

A former Deputy National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Chief Olabode George, on Friday, urged elders and stakeholders of the party to intervene in the political crisis rocking Rivers State, warning that it may become a national conflagration.

He also warned President Bola Tinubu not to treat with levity the threat by some lawmakers in the state House of Assembly to impeach Governor Siminalayi Fubara, insisting that the state belongs to PDP.

He, however, advised that nobody should sit on the fence and pretend that things were fine in the state.

While quoting 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 … (g) being a person whose election to the House of Assembly was sponsored by a political Party, he becomes a member of another political party before the expiration of the period for which that House was elected”,

George maintained that all the PDP lawmakers who defected to the All Progressives Congress, APC, have automatically lost their seats “and they are in no position to threaten Governor Fubara. So, their plot to commence impeachment proceedings against the governor is already in vain.”

He said: “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.

“We should remember ‘Operation Wetie’ which started in the defunct Western Region and eventually consumed the nation and ended the First Republic in 1966.

“All the actors in this crisis in Rivers should avoid actions likely to cause breach of peace and breakdown of law and order in our country.

“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”.