A Senator, who represented Rivers East Constituency in the Fourth Republic, John Azuta Mbata, has asked the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, to banish the thought of controlling proceedings in Rivers State from Abuja.
 
The elder statesman urged Wike to rather focus on delivering on the task given to him by President Bola Tinubu as a minister. Mbata, elected Senator for the Rivers East Constituency of Rivers State at the start of the Fourth Republic, told Wike that there is no way he could hold sway as the point man in Rivers State when there is a sitting governor.
 
He said: “He is a minister now and also doing well; all we pray is for him to continue doing well, face his job in Abuja, and allow Fubara to do his work.
 
“We continue to say that we support the government of Fubara, and we will be unwavering in that pursuit because we know that life is turned by turn.
 
“This is the time and opportunity for Sir Siminalayi Fubara to show his capacity to move Rivers State forward,” he said.  Mbata recalled how he installed Wike as the Chairman of Obio/Akpor Local Council in 1998 against all odds.

MEANWHILE, academics from five higher institutions in Rivers State have expressed worry about the ongoing political crisis in the state, calling for peace to pave the way for more developments. 
  
The dons from Rivers State University (RSU), Ignatius Ajuru University of Education, Ken Saro-Wiwa Polytechnic, Bori, Capt Elechi Amadi Polytechnic and College of Health Sciences and Management Technology, Port Harcourt, lamented that, in other states, immediately after elections and winners declared, everybody comes together and work to move their states forward. 
  
The body under the aegis of Simplified Academics queried why Rivers’ case is different.  Coordinator General of the group, Prof. Akuro Gobo, lecturer at RSU, during a briefing in Port Harcourt yesterday, noted that the administration of Fubara is doing well in human capacity development, infrastructure, education, healthcare and general developments across the state without discriminations.

An Economist and Associate Professor at Ignatius Ajuru University, Williams Nzidee, said there is nowhere in the world a budget that has passed through all the due processes should be represented. 
 
He urged those calling for budget representation and allegedly manipulating through the court to retrace their steps.

ALSO, the Movement for the Survival of Ogoni People (MOSOP) in the United States of America (U.S.A) has appealed to President Bola Tinubu to, once again, intervene in the face-off between Fubara and Wike.
 
The group said the crisis has affected development in the state, especially as allocations to the 23 local councils have been put on hold by the recent court judgment.
 
In a communiqué issued at the end of a three-day celebration to mark the Ogoni-13 and the 30th anniversary of the Ogoni Four, at Missouri, United States, MOSOP urged the President to do everything within his power to end the tension in the state by advising the FCT minister to concentrate on his duty post as a minister.