A founder of the People Democratic Party and former governor of Jigawa State, Sule Lamido has bemoaned the docility of the party towards the lingering political crisis in Rivers State.
Lamido, reacting through a statement, to the involvement of President Bola Tinubu’s in the political saga in the oil rich state, says Nigeria’s leader did not broker peace in Rivers State but used his office to enhance his party’s fortunes, All Progressives Congress (APC).
Lamido lampooned the National Working Committee (NWC) of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) of docility.
According to him, “it was inconceivable that the party allowed its arch-rival, Tinubu, to intervene in the dispute between the Rivers State governor, Siminalayi Fubara, and his predecessor, Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike.
He wondered how his party’s leadership would allow its opponent to settle a political difference between PDP members.
“Pray, do we still have the National Working Committee of the PDP? Or better still, do we have a party called PDP?,” he asked.
“If we have one of the two, how come their total absence in the saga playing out in the PDP family in Rivers? Is the docility of the leadership of the PDP so comatose to the extent that President Tinubu of APC, our sworn rival and opponent, is now the grand patriarch of PDP?
The former Minister of Foreign Affairs added, “It is inconceivable that a political party will simply sit back and allow its fortunes taken over by a rapacious scavenger, the APC.
“What President Tinubu did in the so-called peace meeting is not brokering peace in Rivers State, but using his office to enhance the fortunes of his political party.
“There are many areas yearning for peace in the country where President Tinubu’s political expertise, sagacity and wisdom are needed. What skills has he applied to stop the killings of citizens in Nigeria, which is his primary responsibility, which he has conveniently looked away?
“Unwittingly, the so-called peace accord in Rivers only planted the mines, which will definitely explode in the not-too-distant future, with collateral consequences on the entire country. Asari Mujaheed Tokubo and Chief Edwin Clark have alluded to this last week.”
Lamido said the PDP National Executive Committee (NEC) “should feel sufficiently embarrassed, if not slighted, by the action taken by President Tinubu to reward a political mercenary with PDP fortunes in Rivers State.
“More to the eternal shame of PDP NWC that a tribal voice of Ijaws through Chief Edwin Clark’s press conference has to be deployed to challenge the illegality and unconstitutionality of the peace accord.
“Like Chief Clark said in the press conference, if Tinubu, as the then governor of Lagos, could stand up and fight President Obasanjo’s awesome power and personality and endure to overcome, can’t PDP do likewise?
“The PDP must take off from where Chief Clark started to fight this illegality through our justice system and all other legal means possible!
“If the national executive of the PDP does not have the nerve to stand up and protect its own, it should honourably step down to allow for the election of competent hands.”
Lamido therefore advised Mr Fubara to ignore the directives from Aso Villa and do the needful.
“To Governor Fubara of Rivers State, the document you signed was under an environment not friendly to real conflict resolution, and it was presided over by the force of fear, intimidation and blackmail. Therefore, shred the document and toss it into trash can.
“Governor Fubara may wish to know that President Tinubu, who chaired the meeting, was running with the deer and hunting with hound!”
