Babatunji Wusu –
Governor Siminalayi Fubara has been encouraged by the Ijaw Youth Council, Worldwide, to appoint Edison Ehie, the former factional Speaker of the Rivers State House of Assembly, as his Chief of Staff without delay.
This request comes amid a lot of conjecture that Fubara has already selected Ehie to be his chief of staff.
The current chief of staff, Chidi Amadi, a close supporter of former governor Nyesom Wike, has not yet submitted his resignation, according to information obtained by The PUNCH correspondent.
Ehie resigned from the House of Assembly last Saturday after opposing a plan to impeach Governor Fubara by 27 MPs who support Mike.
Governor Fubara addressed the issue on Monday and stated that although Ehie did not give a specific reason for his resignation, his departure was a conscious attempt to promote harmony and deal with the political unrest in the state.
There were increasing rumors on Tuesday that Fubara had made Ehie his chief of staff. Nevertheless, attempts to confirm this information were unsuccessful since Boniface Onyedi, the governor’s media assistant, denied knowing of any such occurrence.
However, in an address to reporters on Wednesday, Maobuye Nangi-Obu, the Secretary of the Ijaw Youth Council Worldwide, encouraged Fubara to name Ehie as his Chief of Staff, claiming that he was knowledgeable about law and government.
Nangi-Obu stated, “It is the governor’sgovernor’s right to appoint whomever he likes as anything.
“It is also Ehie’s right to say I have seen another opening that gives a better opportunity for my political future.
“In fact, if there is anything higher than the Chief of Staff, Ehie deserves it. The governor should quickly appoint him. He is one person that has shown character, and he is firm. Not only that he supports the governor, but also he understands the rule of law. He tries to stand for the governor, so the governor should appoint him if he has not made the appointment.”
The IYC secretary urged Wike not to fault the Ijaw people for his political misjudgments, emphasizing their pivotal role in his successful political journey.
He said, “Ijaw people should not be painted in a bad light as Wike is going about doing. In 1999, the Ijaw people supported Peter Odili to be governor. It was Asawana that made him governor. Then Asawana was jot itchy in anybody’s ears.
“In 2007, the Ijaw people stood by Rotimi Amaechi. The worst of it all is when the Ijaw that had the magic wand as regards governance, then we had Ijaw man as President; they made sure that the wrong thing was entrenched, and they brought Nyesom Wike to us.
“Ijaw people chanted Asawana, killed themselves to ensure that another Ikwerre man succeeded an Ikwerre, because Patient Jonathan backed Wike. Then Asawana was not evil; Wike should not blame his political miscalculation on the people of Ijaw.”
In a letter titled “To Whom It May Concern,” the Assembly’s Clerk, Emeka Amadi, asserted that labelling Ehie as a factional Speaker was misleading.
