Tonye Cole, co-founder of Sahara Group and 2023 Rivers governorship candidate, has described Governor Siminalayi Fubara’s current situation as “precarious” following the Court of Appeal’s judgment on the Rivers 2024 budget.
Speaking on Thursday on Channels Television’s program, Politics Today, Cole reacted to the appellate court’s unanimous ruling that affirmed the Federal High Court’s decision to void the presentation and passage of the Rivers state 2024 budget.
His words: “The governor finds himself in a very precarious political situation. Of course, by presenting the budget back to that assembly, what this means is that the assembly led by Amaewhule is recognised as the legal assembly.
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“Once that happens, he has to now navigate a possible impeachment issue.”
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He added that the divided political landscape in Rivers, with the Governor belonging to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), the House of Assembly aligned with the All Progressives Congress (APC), and Local Government structures under the Action Peoples Party (APP), complicates the situation.
“We have a state where the governor is PDP, the house of assembly based on the court case is APC, and you have a local government structure that is APP. So, you have three different parties running the state,” Cole explained.
Cole also lamented that the people of Rivers are suffering due to this political crisis, which he believes is driven by a small political family’s interests.
“As it stands right now, the people of Rivers do not matter in the equation that is being played out. If the interests of Rivers people were on the table, we would not even be where we are today.
“This entire fight is political, and it has to do with a very small political family. As we speak today, there is no development. The political battle is affecting the poor man on the street,” Cole said.
