Afenifere chieftain, Dr Femi Okurounmu, has been counselled to avoid getting involved in matters that could ridicule his status as an elder statesman.

Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Minister, Nyesom Wike’s Senior Special Assistant on Public Communications and New Media, Lere Olayinka, who reacted to Dr Okurounmu’s statement accusing President Bola Tinubu of being laid back on the ongoing crisis in Rivers State, asked, “What exactly does Dr. Okurounmu expect President Tinubu to have done?”

Olayinka said it was strange that Dr. Okurounmu, a former senator, could opt to play ostrich to the avalanche of disobedience to court judgments by the Governor of Rivers State, Sim Fubara, and the danger such an affront on the judiciary poses to democracy and peace in the country.

“One is, however, not too amazed because he (Okurounmu) holds the record of being the first senator to be suspended by his colleagues out of the seven senators that have been suspended since 1999 to date,” Olayinka said.

Dr. Okurounmu had accused the FCT Minister of being the architect and mastermind of the Rivers crisis, saying, “Even if Governor Sim Fubara is his godson, Wike should be told that he cannot be his surrogate as a sitting governor with full powers.”

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Responding, Olayinka asked when Wike told Dr. Okurounmu that he wanted Governor Fubara to be his surrogate and not function as the Governor of Rivers State, adding, “He (Okurounmu), as an elder, should be honest enough to stand before the mirror and ask himself the roles he played in Fubara becoming governor.”

He said, “In Yorubaland when two children are fighting, what the elders do is sit them down and listen to their sides of the conflict. Elders don’t just sit in their bedrooms and apportion blame as done by Baba Femi Okurounmu.

“Was it Wike who went to the Rivers State House of Assembly Complex and set it on fire to prevent duly elected lawmakers from carrying out their duties?

“Was it Wike who has been illegally using three members out of the 32-member State House of Assembly to carry out legislative business in Rivers State, including passing the state budget and screening and confirming commissioners, when the constitution says that a budget can only be passed by two-thirds of the Assembly members?

“Hasn’t Governor Fubara been ignoring court judgments concerning his regime of lawlessness in Rivers State? When the Court of Appeal in Abuja on October 10, 2024, affirmed a lower court’s decision nullifying Rivers State’s 2024 budget signed into law and being operated by Governor Fubara, did the governor obey the judgement?

“And is it not shocking that Dr. Okurounmu has chosen to ignore the danger Governor Fubara’s deliberate affronts on the rule of law pose to democracy and peace in Nigeria?”

On Dr. Okurounmu’s accusation that President Tinubu was being laid back on the Rivers State crisis, Olayinka asked, “What exactly does Baba Femi Okurounmu expect the President to have done? Overrule the various judicial pronouncements and join Governor Fubara in his reign of lawlessness?”