Justice cannot prevail in the ongoing crisis in Rivers State if President Goodluck Jonathan does not personally come out to address the matter, former Governor of Abia State, Orji Kalu has said.
Speaking in London at the weekend during a reception in honour of Dr. Nkem Okonkwo, daughter of Senator Annie Okonkwo, who bagged a degree in Medicine from the University of Cardiff, Wales, Kalu condemned the “barbaric, shameful and undemocratic act of some so-called honourable lawmakers of Rivers State House of Assembly.”
Asides branding the lawmakers “dishonorable lawbreakers,” he described their actions as “unpatriotic” and urged relevant authorities to prosecute all those complicit in the brawl that enveloped the state assembly earlier in the month. This punishment, he argued, should spare no thoughts for the political, social or financial influence of all those so adjudged to be deserving of sanctions.
“The law is a respecter of nobody,” he said. “And until the system gives the rule of law its rightful place, no meaningful development will be achieved.”
Kalu expressed his belief in the role of the Executive in assisting the Judiciary to forestall future occurrences, saying it is high time President Goodluck Jonathan broke his silence on the matter.
“As long as the president remains silent on these happenings, justice will not prevail,” he said. “The onus is on President Jonathan to intervene in the crisis in the interest of the wellbeing of Nigerians by sanctioning the key players and actors appropriately. The president must not to allow some shallow-minded and selfish politicians to derail him from fulfilling his promises to Nigerians.”
In a veiled reference to the president, he condemned the growing practice of employing federal might to fight public office aspirants, saying any Nigerian has the right to aspire to any position so long it is within the limits of the law.
Kalu similarly criticised the attack on Governor of Niger State, Babangida Aliyu; Governor of Kano State, Rabiu Kwankwaso; Governor of Adamawa State, Murtala Nyako; and Governor of Jigawa State, and Sule Lamido by thugs masquerading and societal-interest protesters.
He lamented that governors could be so stoned without any punitive action on sponsors of the act, saying allowing such acts of impunity to go unpunished would only serve to encourage future occurrences that can even be directed at the president.
