Niger Delta rights activist, Annkio Briggs, has faulted the Rivers State House of Assembly over the lingering political crisis in the state, insisting that lawmakers have no authority to determine who the people should vote for.
Briggs stated this on Thursday during an interview on Politics Today, a Channels Television programme, while reacting to the impeachment moves involving the Rivers Assembly and Governor Siminalayi Fubara.
According to her, the mandate to decide who governs Rivers State belongs solely to the electorate, not the legislators.
She maintained that residents of the state want Fubara to remain in office and even continue beyond 2027 when his current tenure is expected to end.
“What I’m concerned about is that the people of Rivers State have the final say, and not the members of the State House of Assembly,” she said.
Briggs argued that the lawmakers were acting as though political power resides with them, stressing that the authority rests with Rivers people.
She also urged the Federal Government to wade into the situation, calling specifically on President Bola Tinubu and the All Progressives Congress to tread carefully, especially as the party prepares for elections next year.
Briggs noted that since Governor Fubara has been received into the APC, a party to which the Assembly members also belong, the party must be mindful of its actions to avoid alienating voters in Rivers and the wider Niger Delta region.
“The APC ought to be very careful… how it is going about winning this election, how it is going about securing the votes of Niger Delta as a whole, and securing the votes of Rivers people,” she added.