The immediate-past National Vice Chairman, North-west, of the ruling All Progressives Congress APC, Salihu Moh. Lukman, has said the party should take responsibility for the political crisis in Rivers state.
There have been reported political disagreement before former Rivers state governor Nyesom Wike and his successor, Sim Fubara.
But reacting to the development during an interview Sunday in Abuja, Lukman said it was unfortunate that democracy has now taken flight in the state and politicians behaving like persons without civilization.
He said: “I think we should take responsibility in some ways because perhaps if as leaders of the party we didn’t indulge Nyesom Wike the way we did, he would have managed his relationship back in Rivers with the governor and other political leaders better. I think, for me honestly because I don’t want to play cheap politics, we must appeal to Wike if for whatever reason he will make the choice he made to support Siminalayi Fubara to emerge as the Governor, he must take responsibility and leave with the consequences and find a way to swallow the bitter pill. Because we are not talking about governance. The more he mismanages his relationship with Fubara, and they continue the fight, those who are going to be receiving the short end of the stick are the people of Rivers State.
“This is happening at the expense of governance. You can see based on the street fight, an ‘arrangee’ has been made, Fubara presented a budget to four people and in less than 24 hours it was passed. This is not democracy anymore.
“So, I am not going to sit down here and condemn Fubara or Wike or even shoot our party. We are responsible and both Fubara and Wike have become something else. To put it in a crude way, they are no longer behaving like people who have gone through some level of training, education and civilization. Politics is not madness and leadership is not a chess game.
“Leadership is about taking full responsibility, sometimes denying yourself. It is like, as a father, it is not everyday I sit down here and watch things happening and I say I am happy. Sometimes, I have to just swallow things so that other people in the family remain happy even when I am not happy myself. That is what I expect from Fubara and Wike and even from our party so that the people of Rivers State will be happy. If this is happening at the beginning of a tenure, then this is going to define the tenure.
“Look, if this democracy is to move this country forward, we need leaders who will make the needed sacrifices so that citizens can be happy, and not to go on street fighting simply because you disagree with yourselves.”
He expressed sadness that politicians are already thinking of the 2027 elections instead of concentrating on the delivering the dividends of democracy to the people.
“You are witnesses, I am sure. When the group of the so-called Caretaker Committee came to pay a courtesy visit to the national chairman and shortly after that the national vice chairman South South led APC leaders from that state to go and visit Wike and after that without any local problem in Rivers state the National Working Committee sat down and dissolved all structures of APC so as to open the door for Wike to come into the party, I mean you just gave him license to say you are welcome, whatever you do we accept it. That is what I mean by indulgence and I don’t think we should reduce politics further.
“Unfortunately for us, that is where we are. We reduced the whole politics to the issue of electoral contest. Less than six months coming out of a general election we are already commencing the contest for the next general election which will come up in the next four years. The question of what elected representatives should do to deliver on the promises made has already been sacrificed.
“Citizens are just waiting, they are at the receiving end. We promised renewed hope, we are doing nothing to renew the hope and everybody is quiet. So, for me if you accuse me of attacking leaders because I said some of these things, I accept it, I take responsibility and if leaders are angry with me to the point that they want to expel me from the party, I also accept it. It just means they are not ready to really behave like truly progressive politicians which we sold to Nigerians”, he declared.
