INTERVIEW: Why Rivers crisis may get worse – ADC chair rubbishes Wike, Fubara peace deal

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In this interview with DAILY POST, Mr. Leader Sampson, the Chairman of the African Democratic Congress’s (ADC) Rivers State Chapter, asserts that even though the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, FCT Nyesom Wike and Siminalayi Fubara, the state’s suspended governor, have reconciled, the nearly two-year political crisis could still persist and possibly worsen.

Among other things, Mr. Sampson asked Vice Admiral Ibok-Ete Ekwe Ibas, the state’s sole administrator, to explain how he used “Rivers’ people’s money” during the six months of emergency.

Mr. Sampson discussed the ADC’s plans to seize control of the state through the general elections in 2027 while asserting that the recently held local government elections in Rivers State were unlawful. Excerpts

How do you assess the level of peace in the state right now?

There has never been any crisis in Rivers State. Those things you saw that happened in Rivers State were orchestrated by certain individuals for their own political gains. They decided to make the entire state ungovernable.

That was what they earlier promised that they would do and they did it. But Nigeria is a country where people are not held accountable to their worlds. There was peace in Rivers State, there has been peace in Rivers State and there will continue to be peace in Rivers State.

There are people demanding that the six months administration of Ibas be probed, what is your take on it?

For the purpose of accountability, Ibas needs to give account of everything that happened within his six months in Rivers State.

He needs to tell Nigerians what he did with Rivers State people’s money. He needs to tell us the projects he executed, the amount of money that came in and the things he did with those monies.

He should tell us how much came from the Rivers State internally generated revenue and how much he received as Federal Government allocations. If he doesn’t have anything to hide, then he should give an account.

What can you say about the reconciliation between Governor Fubara and the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, Minister Nyesom Wike?

From what we have seen, there was no true reconciliation. It’s just one man having his way. Fubara returning as a governor of Rivers State with the members of the state House of Assembly returning may not go well.

There is a tendency that if one individual continues to insist that his will and whatever he wants is what is going to happen in the Rivers State, there will be more crises. When it has to do with leadership and governing the state, the tendency of more crises is still very high.

Like I said, what you call the crisis in Rivers State was politically motivated. What we are still going to experience in the state is still going to be politically motivated.

ADC did not participate in the recently concluded Local Government elections. What happened?

You are right, we didn’t participate in the election and that’s because the election was illegal. There is no part of the constitution that permits a Sole Administration to conduct any democratic elections.

What we later discovered was that at the end of the game, the president changed the goal post by suspending part of the constitution to allow the Local Government elections to be held.

The ADC has maintained that the local government election was illegal and it remains illegal and it will never stand. That is why we went to the court to challenge the process. The case is currently in court and we are hopeful that the election will be nullified in no time from now.

Is the ADC working towards winning the governorship election in 2027?

Of course. Although we don’t pray for crisis in the state, we pray for good governance, especially for the governor to succeed in his four years, but if the governor chose not to follow the part of steadfastness, if he chooses to abandon the Rivers people by refusing to provide the dividends of democracy to the people, then it is an advantage to the ADC. We are doing everything possible to rescue the state from the hands of these tyrants.

Can you consider ADC the main opposition party in the state right now?

It is not just in Rivers State, all parts of the country right now, ADC is the main opposition party Nigerians have. We all know that PDP is dead already, so ADC is the only party that is credible opposition in the country.

For political reasons, I can’t give you the statistics of our strength in Rivers now but I can tell you that we are growing everyday. And the truth is, by 2027, we are taking over the government house.

Aside from the former governor, Rotimi Amaechi, who recently joined the party, do you have other political bigwigs in the ADC?

Of course, aside from our leader, Rotimi Amaechi, we have people like prince Uche Secondus, we have former deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Austin Okpara and many others that have joined the party already.

We have all these political leaders in Rivers State that are well known, so very soon, Rivers people will know that ADC is the only alternative that will give them credible governance.

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