Visit Jonathan to end Rivers crisis – Governors advise Amaechi
A delegation of eight governors has advised Governor Chibuike Amaechi of Rivers State to personally visit President Goodluck Jonathan and brief him of the poor security situation of state.
They gave the advice when they paid a solidarity visit to Amaechi in Port Harcourt on Thursday.
The governors are: Kayode Fayemi,( Ekiti State); Babatunde Fashola (Lagos); Ibukunle Amosu (Ogun); Rauf Aregbesola (Osun); and Abiola Ajumobi (Oyo State).
The Deputy Governors of Imo, Nassarawa State and Zamfara, represented their governors.
They met with Amaechi in a closed-door, while their spokesman, Fayemi, said that their mission was to stress the importance of their concern for the security of Rivers.
They met with Amaechi in a close-door, while their spokesman, Fayemi, told newsmen that their mission was to stress the importance of their concern for the security of Rivers.
Fayemi said that the issue of security in the country was 'far more of a major concern'' to Nigerians.
According to him, we have met with our brother and chairman of our forum in an extensive discussion and he has briefed us on the situation on ground here.
'We do feel strongly, having listened to him that it is quite important for him to actually go and brief Mr President, who is our leader and the chief security officer of the country on the very challenging security situation here in Rivers.
'We believe that our chairman and brother will give serious consideration to that particular concern we have expressed to him.
'It is important, as the chief security officer of Rivers, to take the opportunity to go and brief Mr President on the security situation in the state.
'In our discussion with our brother, we talked on the importance for the hierarchy of our police authority, the Inspector General of Police, to help in restoring the confidence of the people of Rivers in police.
'For us, we believe that this is a matter that requires the moral authority of Mr President as well; it is about saving the democracy; it is about ensuring that peace reigns in Rivers.
Fayemi said that nobody should use any means to create tension in any place in the country.
He added: 'the tension in Rivers is avoidable and we want all parties to sheathe their sword and to help restore the peace and security of the state.''
The Zamfara Deputy Governor, Alhaji Ibrahim Wakkala, believed that Amaechi briefing Jonathan would help find a lasting solution to the crises.
Meanwhile, the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) has said the root cause of the Rivers crisis appears to have come to the fore, going by the statement credited to the First Lady on Wednesday, that it started four years ago when Gov. Amaechi apparently defied Her Excellency's appeal not to demolish a part of Okrika.
'This revelation is a mortal blow to all those who have been struggling to distance the President and the First Lady from the Rivers crisis.'