Essential Ndubuisi
Rivers State Governor Nyesom Wike has made it clear that he is not in support of any move by the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) to produce the president of the 10th National Assembly.
In a live media chat at his private residence in Rumueprikom, Obio/Akpor Local Government Area of the state, Governor Wike stated that it would be a distraction for the new president of the country from APC to have the Senate or House of Representatives president or speaker respectively from his party (PDP). He further expressed that such a plan would threaten the cohesion between the executive and legislative arms of the government.
During the media chat, Governor Wike also criticized the President of Nigeria Bar Association (NBA), Yakubu Maikyau, and human rights lawyer, Femi Falana, for their calls for the release of the three legal representatives of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Rivers State. The three APC lawyers were reportedly arrested on Saturday, April 1, 2023, at a hotel in the state, where they were said to be working on a petition for candidates of the APC in the March 18 governorship and House of Assembly elections.
While the NBA president had condemned the arrest, Falana appealed to the Inspector General of Police (IGP), Usman Baba, to order the release of the lawyers. However, Governor Wike stated that the police should be allowed to carry out their investigation without interference from any quarters, adding that the NBA should not use Rivers State to gain popularity with the bad leadership of its president.
In his words: “You can’t use us to be popular among lawyers because the NBA president knows that his own administration is not doing well. And so, the only way they can show that they are doing well is by coming out to say, ‘release the lawyers’.”
Governor Wike made it clear that the elected members of the National Assembly from Rivers State will not support any plot by PDP to produce the 10th Senate President.
