The Rivers Restoration Movement (RRM) has issued a communique urging the President of the Ijaw National Congress (INC), Prof. Benjamin Okaba, to resign due to alleged incompetence and directionless leadership.
According to RRM, Prof. Okaba’s recent statements on the crises in Rivers State and Ijaw matters have sparked widespread criticism.
In a statement signed by Hon. Johnson George Will, Director General of RRM, and Mrs. Sarima Akpata, Secretary of RRM, the group expressed disappointment in Prof. Okaba’s leadership.
The group claimed that Prof. Okaba has been partisan and one-sided in his approach, particularly in his support for Tonye Cole’s gubernatorial bid and his criticism of the suspended Governor.
“We are appalled that Prof. Okaba, who is supposed to be neutral, has decided to be partisan and one-sided, just like he supported Tonye Cole for Governor and vilified the suspended Governor, while true Ijaw sons standing with the FCT Minister, H.E. Nyesom Wike, stood firm and had sleepless nights to ensure H.E. Sim Fubara emerged victorious in 2023,” the statement read.
The group, however, demanded Prof. Okaba to refrain from granting press interviews that insult and disparage the FCT Minister, H.E. Nyesom Wike, warning that failure to comply would result in exploring every legal means to file a criminal defamation suit in court.
The group also questioned Prof. Okaba’s intellectual capacity and professorship, citing his suggestion on Arise TV that Ijaws supporting the FCT Minister undergo DNA tests to verify their ethnicity.
“What a shame,” RRM lamented, adding that the founding fathers of INC would be in tears to see a formerly non-partisan group now turning into a political party driven by individual interests.
RRM further questioned the whereabouts of Prof. Okaba and others who allegedly supported the war drums on constitutional matters during Governor Fubara’s suspension.
The group emphasized that the majority of Rivers Ijaws who fought for the emergence of H.E. Sim Fubara are with the leader of Rivers State politics, H.E. Nyesom Wike.
However, they appealed for equity, fairness, and justice, suggesting that another Ijaw man should be allowed to complete the term as a gesture of goodwill.
Group Calls For INC President’s Resignation is first published on The Whistler Newspaper
Source: The Whistler
