A former Rivers State Commissioner for Information and Communication, Austin Tam-George, has said the impeachment moves against Governor Siminalayi Fubara are aimed at stopping him from securing a second term in office rather than addressing any genuine wrongdoing.
Tam-George made the claim on Thursday, January 8, during an appearance on Prime Time on Arise Television, where he argued that the impeachment process was being used as a political weapon to derail the governor’s future ambitions.
He said Governor Fubara’s focus on the welfare of Rivers residents, through what he described as visible investments in rural development, housing, education and healthcare, has made it difficult for critics to justify removing him from office, which, in his view, explains the push to truncate his tenure.
Tam-George also called on the All Progressives Congress, APC, to intervene, saying the party should not allow what he described as the humiliation of a sitting governor.
He said, “Well, all I think he needs to do is to do exactly what he’s been doing from the beginning, which is to place the people at the center of gravity of his administration, prioritize the needs of the people, so that the people can see the direct impact of government action in their lives.
“And that’s exactly what he’s doing in terms of rural development, in terms of housing sector transformation, which I mentioned that he is doing the same in education sector and in health.
“So if he continues, if he persists in placing the people’s need at the center of focus of his administration, there is no way they are going to be able to justify this kind of shenanigans.
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“Because, if you look very carefully at the so called articles of impeachment, you will see that there is no specificity in terms of any infraction by the governor or his deputy.
“What they are trying to do is to make sure they scuttle the administration so that the governor doesn’t then get to the point where he will be seeking a second term.
“Let me be clear, just two days ago, Nyesom Wike was at one of the local governments, and he made it clear in a moment of epiphany, he made it clear that, look, if Governor Fubara were to get a second term in office, it will amount to his own political burial.
“So all of these things that we are seeing the so called impeachment proceedings they’ve initiated, it’s actually an effort to try to scuttle the prospects of the governor coming for a second term, and I don’t see how they will succeed.
“If you look at the so called articles of impeachment, as I said, they lack specificity in terms of the kind of infraction that they allege that the governor has committed. He has done nothing wrong, and they will see how the process will play out.
“My sense, and in fact, if I were to advise the governor, my sense is that he should just maintain the people, retain the people at the center of gravity of his administration, meet their needs, run a transparent administration as he always done, and then the truth will come out, and he will be able to defend the administration.
“I think the the governing APC should also step in because they can’t possibly allow the governor of the office with probably one of the best performance records in the country to be humiliated by some of these members of the assembly.”