Chidi Awuse, a leading traditional ruler in Rivers State, has expressed disappointment with Governor Siminialayi Fubara, for removing him as Chairman of the Traditional Rulers’ Council.
The monarch, who was appointed by former Governor Nyesom Wike was removed from his position as Chairman of the Council by Fubara in June.
Awuse, the traditional ruler of the Emohua kingdom, honoured Wike and Fubara with chieftaincy titles in the Emohua kingdom.
The governor, who accused Awuse of being unstable in his leadership of the council under the current administration, replaced him with the Paramount Ruler of Apara Kingdom, Eze Chike Worlu Wodo.
Eze Awuse’s removal followed the face-off between Fubara and Wike, who is presently the minister of the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, over the leadership structure in the state.
Fubara had said he received a “special insult” from the Awuse-led council and that the council did not show any sign of working with his administration.
He had said: “I want the council to live up to its responsibility. From my observation, the council is moribund.
“I would like to draw your attention to a special insult that was meted out to this government.
‘The council produced a calendar for the year 2024, and the governor’s picture and the deputy governor’s picture are not in the calendar.
“I want to ask you: does it show any sign that the leadership is working with this government? I hope you have a copy of it. Does it show that your chairman is working with this government?
Speaking at the weekend when Wike led a delegation of his political associates to his palace to rejoice with him for surviving a debilitating ailment, the monarch lamented that he was in a critical condition at hospital when his removal was announced.
The monarch claimed that he was in an Intensive Care Unit, ICU, when the Governor removed him, stressing that he spent ten hours in a coma and six days in ICU.
He said, “I was sacked from my seat the day I was in ICU. I was in a coma for 10 hours. I told him only (Wike) because everybody rejected me.
“The government I was serving rejected me.
“I am learning how to stand up because I was in ICU for six weeks with gadgets all over my body fed through my nose. And you (Fubara) told people when I was in ICU that I was a man of questionable character.
“You said Sergeant Awuse, I am not steady. That is one quality I don’t deserve. Call me any other name but I am a steady human being.”
