Appoint Ex-Factional Speaker Ehie, As Chief Of Staff – IYC Urges Fubara

The Ijaw Youth Council, Worldwide, has urged Governor Siminalayi Fubara to promptly designate Edison Ehie, the former factional Speaker of the Rivers State House of Assembly, as his Chief of Staff.

This request arises amidst widespread speculations suggesting that Fubara has already chosen Ehie for the role of Chief of Staff.

However, The PUNCH correspondent has gathered that the present Chief of Staff, Chidi Amadi, an ally of former governor Nyesom Wike, has not yet tendered his resignation.

Naija News reported that Ehie, having resisted a scheme by 27 pro-Wike lawmakers to impeach Governor Fubara, resigned from the House of Assembly last Saturday.

While Ehie did not cite a particular reason for his resignation, Governor Fubara, addressing the matter on Monday, asserted that Ehie’s departure was a deliberate effort to foster peace and address the political turmoil in the state.

On Tuesday, there was growing speculation that Fubara had appointed Ehie as his Chief of Staff. However, attempts to verify this information proved futile, with the governor’s media aide, Boniface Onyedi, denying any knowledge of such a development.

But the Secretary of Ijaw Youth Council Worldwide, Maobuye Nangi-Obu, while addressing newsmen on Wednesday, urged Fubara to appoint Ehie as his Chief of Staff, saying he understood governance and the rule of law.

Nangi-Obu stated, “It is the governor’sgovernor’s right to appoint whomever he likes as anything.

“It is also Ehie’s right to say I have seen another opening that gives a better opportunity for my political future.

“In fact, if there is anything higher than the Chief of Staff, Ehie deserves it. The governor should quickly appoint him. He is one person that has shown character, and he is firm. Not only that he supports the governor, but also he understands the rule of law. He tries to stand for the governor, so the governor should appoint him if he has not made the appointment.”

The IYC secretary urged Wike not to fault the Ijaw people for his political misjudgments, emphasizing their pivotal role in his successful political journey.

He said, “Ijaw people should not be painted in a bad light as Wike is going about doing. In 1999, the Ijaw people supported Peter Odili to be governor. It was Asawana that made him governor. Then Asawana was jot itchy in anybody’s ears.

“In 2007, the Ijaw people stood by Rotimi Amaechi. The worst of it all is when the Ijaw that had the magic wand as regards governance, then we had Ijaw man as President; they made sure that the wrong thing was entrenched, and they brought Nyesom Wike to us.

“Ijaw people chanted Asawana, killed themselves to ensure that another Ikwerre man succeeded an Ikwerre, because Patient Jonathan backed Wike. Then Asawana was not evil; Wike should not blame his political miscalculation on the people of Ijaw.”

Recall that Naija News reported that in the aftermath of Ehie’s departure, the Rivers State House of Assembly officially refuted claims that he held the position of a factional Speaker.

In a letter titled “To Whom It May Concern,” the Assembly’s Clerk, Emeka Amadi, asserted that labelling Ehie as a factional Speaker was misleading.