‘The Way Things Are Going In Rivers State Is Dangerous’ – Doyin Okupe

A former presidential media aide, Doyin Okupe, has called for a political solution to the current upheavals in Rivers State.

Okupe, in an interview with newsmen in Lagos on Sunday, lamented that the current happenings in Rivers State are taking dangerous dimensions, describing the situation as a misfortune.

The former Labour Party (LP) chieftain said the happenings in the oil-rich state are about interests, and to resolve the issues, a political solution must be deployed.

He stated further that the crisis in the state was caused by disregard for rules and laws and shouldn’t have surfaced at all if laws were obeyed.

He said, “That is a total misfortune, and the real issue if we look at it properly, is that we do not obey our laws. if only we obey our laws, this situation cannot surface at all.

“The courts have to help, the judiciary must be consistent, fair and judge according to law, not any other sentiment.

“Let us all obey our laws and our rules and let the court adjudicate according to the law and anybody who flouts the law should pay for it.

“The way things are going in Rivers right now is dangerous, but a political solution is what I will suggest, as a very experienced politician.”

Okupe suggested that the interest of all aggrieved parties in the Rivers political crisis must be brought to the table and an acceptable middle ground agreed upon.

He said, “In all my years of politics, I have never seen anything in this world that a political solution cannot resolve in all political disagreements.

“Politics is about interest. What is the interest of A and what is the interest of B, and how can we marry them? That’s is all.”

NATURENEX reports Rivers State has been engulfed in a political crisis arising from a disagreement between the State Governor, Siminalayi Fubara, and his predecessor, who is the incumbent Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike.

The rift has also divided the State House of Assembly into two factions, with both parties currently in court to get the law on their sides.