Be Wary of Dubious Elders, Group Urges Gov. Sim Fubara


A group the Rivers First Movement (RFM) has urged the Rivers State governor, Sir Siminialayi Fubara to be wary what it termed “dubious elders”, who it alleged has been parading themselves as the official spokespersons and has been operating under the false acronym of Rivers Elders and Leaders Forum, a claim that is dubious, dishonorable, and deceitful and an outright falsehood.

The group in statement jointly signed by Onengiye Brown, Bekwele Amadinna and Owuzeshi Amachree noted that, “these so called elders in an embarrassing display of ignorance questioned the intentions of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, in wading into the political crisis in Rivers state. One wonders where they got the locus to impugn the good intentions of the president who took an oath to maintain peace and security in the entire country. We wonder how the noble intentions of Mr. President offended their warped sensibilities”.



According to a statement released in Port Harcourt, the group stated;



"We have watched the absurd claims and ugly vituperations of a group of meddlesome interlopers, who in a disservice to our dear Rivers state has been parading themselves as elders of Rivers state. This group that is made up of some former governors, senators and academics, has been parading themselves as the official spokespersons and has been operating under the false acronym of Rivers Elders and Leaders Forum, a claim that is dubious, dishonorable, and deceitful and an outright falsehood.



In an advertorial published in the Vanguard Newspaper of Friday, December 29th, 2023, these so called elders in an embarrassing display of ignorance questioned the intentions of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, in wading into the political crisis in Rivers state. One wonders where they got the locus to impugn the good intentions of the president who took an oath to maintain peace and security in the entire country. We wonder how the noble intentions of Mr. President offended their warped sensibilities.





If they had called themselves concerned elders, it will be understandable and they should know better, than to embark on this disreputable and disruptive exercise geared towards cheap hustle and reaping where they did not sow. It is sad to note that these so called elders played no part during the struggle to get Siminilaye Fubara elected as the governor of Rivers state. They neither campaigned nor voted for him and some of them are on record to have worked for other political parties opposed to the aspiration of Gov. Fubara and the PDP and their children contested under parties opposed to PDP and lost.







Gov. Fubara knows the people that played a part in his victory, those who endorsed him and worked tirelessly to ensure that no stone was left unturned to deliver him to victory. It is globally accepted that politics goes with patronage. It is morally wrong to seek to destroy the political ladder that propelled one to victory, based on the dubious advice of emergency cheerleaders, who are nothing more than conflict entrepreneurs, seeking to reap where they did not sow.







We would not have taken any exception in the false and misguided claims, if they had restricted themselves to being concerned elders, as there is a well-recognized body known as The Rivers Elders and Leaders Forum. While not joining issues with these purveyors of falsehood, we urge the likes of former governor Rufus Ada George, Senators Ben Birabi and Andrew Uchendu to live up to the expectations, which the high offices they once occupied, imposes on them, to be truthful arbiters and promoters of peace and justice. These elders should search their consciences and asked themselves if they worked for the emergence of Gov. Sim Fubara.







Given the trauma Rivers state and it's citizens have been plunged into since the onset of this needless crisis and the commitment of Gov. Fubara to abide by the resolutions of the meeting brokered by President Tinubu, it is obvious that the so called elders are shone of emotional intelligence and do not want peace to prevail by their unholy questioning of the resolve to bury all hatchet through the return of the commissioners who resigned on principle based on their abhorrence to chaos and anarchy as exemplified by the intemperate demolition of the Rivers State House of Assembly.







It amounts to crying more than the bereaved when Gov. Fubara has accepted that the Assembly should choose a venue for their sitting through his proclamation that no price is too much to pay for peace. It is tragic that these elders choose to flog a dead horse with their insistence that the 27 lawmakers cannot sit with the four lawmakers led by Edison Ehie. If one may ask, when did these elders usurp the statutory functions of INEC, by insisting that the seat of the Assembly members have been declared vacant? Obviously, these jokers are enemies of democracy.







It is also pertinent to add here that the commissioners that resigned and the Assembly members, contributed to the victory of PDP and Gov. Fubara in their various polling units and wards thorough rigorous campaigns and mobilization of funds and their supporters. It is therefore mind-boggling that these outsiders and usurpers are rising up to challenge their status as stakeholders in the Gov. Fubara led government.







We commend the dignified silence of the authentic elders of Rivers state and their tireless efforts to ensure the restoration of peace and normalcy. We are embarrassed by the macabre dance of chicanery by these perennial political hustlers, some of who spent years in political office without attracting any meaningful development to their people and to Rivers state. We are shocked and shamed by the dubious motives and questionable intensions of these elders which are manifested in their disputations of the outcomes of a peace parley, convened by the President, which has finally rested the political crisis in the state.







We urge Rivers youths who have been drafted into the fray through endless protests, in a bid to destabilize the state, to be mindful of their actions, which is undermining the peace, security and stability of the state.







We call on the Rivers State governor, His Excellency Siminialye Fubura, to be wary of dubious elders and conflict entrepreneurs, whose only motive is to perpetuate the crisis, while deepening their pockets.







Finally, we commend the president and commander in chief of the armed forces of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, GCFR, for his timely intervention, which has restored peace and stability to Rivers state. It is a demonstration of his love for Rivers people”.