•Tinubu, Fubara and Fagbemi
Youth leaders from different parts of Nigeria under the aegis of Ethnic Youth Leaders have urged the Attorney General and Minister for Justice, Lateef Fagbemi, to apologise to Governor Siminalayi Fubara for falsely accusing him of being behind the bombings in Rivers State.
According to the youth leaders, it was curious that the Attorney General who is the chief law officer shielded his colleague, the minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, from the crisis in the south south state, reports Daily Independent.
In a statement by national coordinator, Comrade Meliga Godwin, the youth leaders said while Wike in a viral video circulated on many media platforms boasted about acts of vandalism in the state, the AGF chose to shift the entire blame to the governor.
“We call on the Attorney General and Minister for Justice, Lateef Fagbemi to immediately apologise to Governor Siminalayi Fubara for falsely accusing him of being behind the bombing while shielding Wike from any blame.
“It is quite unfortunate that the Chief law officer of a country would take such a biased position, alleging that the Rivers State Governor, Siminalayi Fubara, tele-guided militants to blow up pipelines in the state.
“Fagbemi would go on to spuriously alleged that although the governor was not directly culpable, he failed to dissuade the militants from vandalising the pipeline.
Hear him “We are in a democracy. There were what I will call telegraphing of the militants, I will say, by the governor. And the reason I say so is, when he began, he said oh, he will let them know when it was time to act.
Let us say it was false. Did he come out to disown them? The answer is no. And a week later, they swung into action. You saw or witnessed the vandalisation of oil pipelines.”
But the ethnic youth leaders insist that evidence abound that Wike, more than the governor, is complicit and guilty as charged. It was well circulated on electronic and social media that the explosions experienced in Gokana and Onelga had earlier been predicted by Chief Barr Wike on his media chat.
“He was quoted as saying: ‘What nonsense is that? Who told you Ogoni people cannot break pipelines? Who told you Ikwerre people cannot blow up pipelines? Who told you Ekpeye people cannot blow up pipelines?’ “The above statements were set up designed to create tension and disharmony; to create a perceived state of anarchy, and to make the President declare a state of emergency in Rivers State.
“For Mr. President to single out Gov. Sim Fubara and the Honourable members of the Rivers State House Assembly for suspension, without taking any disciplinary action on his Minister, Chief Nyesom Wike, for gross public misconduct, is a clear miscarriage of justice and it is condemnable.
“It is more unfortunate that the Attorney General who should have advised the President on the illegality of the whole imbroglio is here defending the big elephant in the room while falsely accusing the Governor, simply because they want to give a dog a bad name to hang it. But that must not be allowed! He must apologize,” Comrade Godwin concluded.
