The President of the Ijaw Youth Council Worldwide, Theophilus Alaye, has rejected any single-term deal as a condition for the return of suspended Rivers State Governor, Siminalayi Fubara.
Alaye said Fubara has the constitutional right to seek
re-election and should not be brow beated by any political actor including his
predecessor Nyesom Wike into settling for a single term as a condition for his
suspension to be lifted by President Bola Tinubu.
“The Governor of Rivers State, Siminalayi Fubara, is a
citizen of Nigeria and by the virtue of the Nigerian Constitution, we believe
that the governor has the right to seek re-election,” the Ijaw youth president
said on Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily on Tuesday.
Alaye said any information about a single-term deal
for Fubara’s return remained speculation but said that his group would back the
governor for re-election.
He said, “When we get to 2027, we shall know if that
is part of the agreement. And if he has delivered the dividends of democracy
for Rivers people, it is left for Rivers people to ask him to contest or not.
“As the President of the Council, if a single-term is
part of the agreement he has signed or they gave to him that he should not seek
re-election in 2027, some of us are not going to be part of that because that
is an infringement on his fundamental human rights, and it is against the
Nigerian Constitution.
“Oppression is what we would never support. We have
always been a group of marginalised persons and agitation has always been part
of our lifestyle.
“So, standing behind the Rivers State governor to seek
re-election come 2027 is not going to be a new thing to us because for us to
sit down and allow some group of persons to infringe on his constitutional
rights is what we, as a people, will not accept.”
Tinubu imposed a state of emergency on Rivers State in
March 2025 and suspended Fubara; his deputy Ngozi Odu; and members of the state
assembly over the political crisis in the state.
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