By Awhawha Awhawha
Godknows Igali, chairman of the Pan Niger Delta Forum (PANDEF), says the group has arranged a peace meeting between Siminalayi Fubara, governor of Rivers state, and Nyesom Wike.
Speaking on ‘The Morning Brief’, a programme on Channels TV, Igali said the forum had approached one of the governors in the south to host the meeting.
On Tuesday, President Bola Tinubu suspended Fubara, his deputy, and members of the Rivers state house of assembly following months of political tension.
The president appointed Ibok-Ete Ibas, a retired naval chief, as the state’s sole administrator.
Fubara has been locked in a political dispute with Wike, the minister of the federal capital territory (FCT).
The governor refused to recognise 27 lawmakers of the Rivers house of assembly loyal to Wike, leading to a political impasse in the state.
“We are a body that is formed to promote dialogue, to promote the reign of peace in the region and also defending, of course, the people,” Igali said.
“A template has been established, and that template is that go and talk about how we can arrive at a peaceful resolution to this problem. If that option was not there, PANDEF would have reacted totally differently.
“But the option has been created. It is what we were doing already, we were already on the verge of arriving somewhere.”
Igali, a former permanent secretary at the federal ministry of water resources, said when PANDEF initially intervened, both parties were unwilling to engage in dialogue.
He said progress is now being made in bringing both factions to the table.
“Finally, the committee of elders succeeded in talking to the two sides. They met people who were very close to the governor. They met with the governor himself twice,” he said.
“Then they also met with the very close people to the minister of the federal capital territory, and the two sides agreed that okay let us arrange for the two principals to meet at a neutral ground.
“We had already started working on that, on a place where both of them can meet face to face.
“I can put it out that we had approached one of the governors in the south who is very detached from this matter to host, and he had accepted to host. So, we’re looking forward to that process.”