Former Rivers state Governor Rufus Ada-George and other leaders have called on politicians in the state to embrace peace and stop provocative comments in the interest of the state.

In an interview, Ada-George said he is pained and worried about the grave danger inflammatory comments portend for the peace and security of Rivers and Nigeria as a whole.

He is the oldest former Governor of Rivers State and called on all former governors and their deputies to close ranks, come together, and collectively and frankly speak to our younger colleagues in the best interest of the state.

The caretaker committee chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Rivers State, Tony Okocha has said President Bola Tinubu’s move to end the rift between the state governor, Sim Fubara and the FCT Minister, Nyesom Wike has collapsed as the situation worsens.

President Tinubu recently held a meeting with Wike and Fubara at the presidential villa in Abuja, to broker peace between the two politicians in the state.

But in the last four days, the crisis has evolved with the defection of 27 members of the assembly loyal to Wike, to the APC and the demolition of the state House of Assembly Complex.

Addressing a press conference at the APC national secretariat in Abuja, Okocha said the situation is now irreparable.

He also said the four members of the state House of Assembly led by the factional Speaker, Edison Ehie, who sat and passed the budget presented to them by Governor Fubara for the 2024 fiscal year were dwelling on illegality, saying their action would not stand.

Okocha said the APC was wooing Wike to defect to the party, stressing that as soon as he becomes a member of the APC, he would become the party’s leader in the state.

The two factions of the Rivers state House of Assembly held parallel sittings at different locations yesterday.

The Speaker, Martin Amaewhule, who leads 27 pro-Wike lawmakers, sat at the Assembly quarters along Aba Road Port Harcourt.

On the other hand, the court recognized Speaker, Edison Ehie led his faction, which is loyal to Governor Siminialaye Fubara, To A Sitting at The Government House, Port Harcourt.

The state governor had sent bulldozers to demolish the state assembly complex, while the four pro-Fubara lawmakers declared the seats of the 27 pro-Wike lawmakers vacant following their defection to the APC.

The governor presented the state’s 2024 budget to the Ehie faction and signed the N800 billion document into law yesterday.

At plenary, the Martins Amaewhule-led group of lawmakers condemned what they described as the heartless and brazen demolition of the House of Assembly complex by Governor Siminialayi Fubara, without the approval and knowledge of the ‘House’.

A motion sponsored by 26 members and moved by the member representing Andoni state constituency, Ofiks Kabang drew the attention of various parties to the crisis in the state.