Few four hours after the painful burial of Herbert Wigwe, former CEO of Access bank holdings, his wife, Chizoba and son, Chizzy, the face-off between the All Progressives Congress, APC and the People's Democratic Party, PDP, over some uncomplimentary comments by both parties during the funeral held at Isiokpo, Rivers state, is yet to simmer down.
The Senate President, Senator Godswill Akpabio and the Rivers state Governor, Siminalyi Fubara spoke during the funeral service of the deceased in a manner that did not go down well with the supporters of both political camps.
The Chairman, Rivers State APC Caretaker Committee, Chief Tony Okocha, at a press conference on Tuesday in Port Harcourt said what the Governor was expected to do was to give simple tribute at the funeral and not to spark up political debate thereby undermining the real essence of the sombre moment.
"The same fifth columnist that are encouraging him (Fubara) to disobey Mr President, are on a new spree of casting aspersions deriding the Senate President of Nigeria", Okocha said.
"At a burial ceremony, if you have opportunity to speak, you are expected to do a tribute. Even when you want to sing what they call a dirge, you don’t introduce politics.
"The Governor goes to Isiokpo, by protocol he was allowed to speak, tribute to the dead. The corpses were lying there. What did he do? A minute after he even started, he veered off; saying" I’m talking about the political class.
"Why are we killing and burying. Why is he interested in unnecessary public campaign validation?
"Come to think of it. Was Wigwe a politician? That population there that day were they all politicians? Was that a political campaign ground? So he could have said anything without dragging in the political class.
"Its the reason the Senate President when he took the stage said what are you now struggling for. If you don’t want it, don’t struggle. He was passing a message."
"The ground you are was not a ground to play politics. But what we are hearing now is that they are abusing him (Akpabio).
"Well, it is their business, but Akpabio is a member of my party. I saw a stupidly written script by the PDP that Akpabio is an enemy of the state and that they will soon declare him a persona non-grata. I laughed. That is the stupidity of the system."
Okocha also asked the Governor to resign on grounds of incompetence and lack of performance, adding that since he was sworn in on May 29, "Governor Siminalyi Fubara has nothing to show despite the huge amount of money that has come to the state courtesy of subsidy removal by Mr President".
However, the State Publicity Secretary of the PDP, Sydney Gbara in a statement issued in Port Harcourt described Senator Akpabio as an enemy of Rivers state going by the utterances of the Senate President against Governor Fubara.
Gbara alleged that Akpabio was angry due to the applause that greeted Fubara's remarks why politicians are fighting and killing themselves over power which is very transient.
"It is now obvious that the Senate President, Senator Godswill Akpabio is an enemy of Rivers people, as evident in his past and present actions and utterances on issues concerning the State.
"The applause from sympathisers and mourners at the burial, however, drew the anger of Senator Akpabio who mounted the rostrum afterwards to fight, after narrating a concocted fallacious story between him and a former Deputy Governor of Akwa Ibom state over a power struggle, attempted to ridicule Governor Fubara by asking him to resign if there was no need to struggle to kill for power.
"Akpaio had consistently shown disdain, unimaginable level of disrespect and hatred for His Excellency, Siminialayi Fubara, Governor of Rivers State through his utterances at public functions in the State."
"His actions against Rivers people had never been pleasant but embarrassing.
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