From TONY JOHN, Port Harcourt
Rivers professionals have declared their support for the governorship candidate of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), Sim Fubara, for 2023 election.
The professionals are an assemblage of individuals from various disciplines of human endeavours.
Convener of the group and member of Rivers State House of Assembly, Enemi George, while briefing journalists in Port Harcourt, said in the past, Rivers people had been battered and were in hell due to bad leadership.
George stated that the emergence of Governor Nyesom Wike in 2015 has changed the narratives and placed the state on the limelight of infrastructural renaissance.
According to him, RivPro had looked at the credentials of the PDP governorship candidate and resolved that, as an astute administrator, he would consolidate Wike’s legacies.
He noted: “As Rivers people, today, the government (of Nyesom Wike) has made us proud. If you look back, you would remember that there was time as a state, we were almost battered.
“But, a time came when we have a governor in the person of His Excellency, Nyesom Ezenwo Wike, who wiped those tears; who bridged that gap that we had, who brought to bare an infrastructural revolution that is largely unprecedented.
“So, the question is, what happens when he leaves? Who is that person that can sustain that tempo? Who is that person that can build upon that his (Wike) legacy and take us a step further as a state? Those were the questions that we asked ourselves.”
He said after the professionals had asked themselves those questions, they decided that, “there was one man that answered these questions, that suits all these profiles; one man that satisfies the vertical and horizontal expectations of Rivers people. It is in no other person than Sim Fubara.”
“So, after due deliberation, we decided that, as a team, as a group, we endorse and support and work with and to devote our time, talent, hard earned resources, specialties as well, in pursuing victory for Amaopusenibo Sir Siminialayi Fubara.”
“We must not throw away the gains the state has made in the last seven years. Today, we have come to say we endorse Sim Fubara, as our governorship candidate.
The convener stressed that it was not enough to take the decision, but to tell the world their stand as the 2023 election is concerned.
He, however, charged Rivers professionals to woo their relatives and associates for the victory of their colleague in the forthcoming election.
Earlier, secretary of the group,
Prince Onyekwere, said Rivers professionals, as a team, takes keen interest in holding government accountable.
He said: “We make objective assessment of government activities. Whether we like it or not, policies and programmes of the government give the direction of the government.”
In his brief remarks, past chairman of the Nigeria Bar Association (NBA), Okrika, Golden Tamuno, advised that they should not rest on their oars to they have professionalized Sim Fubara.
Tamuno said he (Fubara) was chosen because, henceforth, they would articulate the position of professionals for leadership positions in the state.