Dele Momodu, a Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) chieftain, has condemned the Rivers State peace deal, stating that President Bola Tinubu cannot be the headmaster of both the state and federal governments.
Tinubu’s intervention in the political crisis involving Rivers State Governor Sim Fubara and FCT Minister Nyesom Wike, according to Momodu, was legally absurd.
Chronicle NG reports that Fubara and Wike have been at loggerheads over the control of Rivers State’s political structure and finances.
The schism resulted in legislators defecting to the All Progressives Congress (APC), and some commissioners resigning from the Fubara-led executive council.
Tinubu brokered a peace deal between Wike and Fubara at the Presidential Villa in Abuja yesterday in an attempt to end the crisis.
As part of the peace agreement, Tinubu issued an eight-point resolution during the meeting.
Reacting to his verified Instagram handle, Momodu wrote, “The directives to Rivers State by a Federal President are really absurd in legal terms. No president can be a headmaster of both state and federal.
“What manner of democracy are we practicing that allows a president to intervene in the internal affairs of opposition parties and overrules the Constitution unchallenged, and our politicians comply as if they are in a slave camp?
“Opposition parties must vehemently oppose this brazen attempt at forcing a one-party dictatorship on Nigeria.”
![Rev. Fr. Anthony Odiong, a US-based Nigerian Louisiana Catholic priest, was arrested in Florida on Tuesday for possessing child pornography, according to law authorities. The suspect is reportedly accused of many other cases of sexual assault. The Waco, Texas, Police Department announced in a Facebook post on Tuesday that officers detained Father Anthony Odiong in Ave Maria, Florida, with assistance from the United States Marshals Service. Waco police announced in March that they had received "credible information" about a sexual assault allegedly committed by Odiong in Texas in 2012. “During the subsequent investigation, a case of possession of child pornography was uncovered,” the police said. The priest was apprehended in Florida by the Caribbean Regional Fugitive Task Force. The Waco Police Department said that he will be extradited to Texas. Odiong had previously served in the Archdiocese of New Orleans before being removed as priest in December of last year due to controversy over homilies in which he claimed, among other things, that the Catholic Church was being taken over by "the gays." At the time, the priest was also accused of abusive behaviour; a Louisiana lady claimed in U.S. bankruptcy court that Odiong had committed both financial and sexual abuse against her. Prior to joining the New Orleans Archdiocese, Odiong served in at least two Texas parishes. On Tuesday, Waco police stated that during their sexual assault investigation, "the presence of other survivors was revealed." “Multiple women have come forward to tell similar experiences as the sexual assault survivor who reported the initial allegation,” the police department said. “Survivors’ experiences ranged from sexual assault and indecent assault, more commonly recognised as groping, and financial abuse, with some survivors experiencing every element of Anthony Odiong’s manipulation.” The police said they “believe there may be more survivors, and we wish to speak with anyone who [has] had similar encounters” with the priest. The Archdiocese of New Orleans issued a brief news release on Tuesday noting Odiong's arrest in Florida. The archdiocese “encourages anyone with any information to contact law enforcement,” the release said.](https://chronicle.ng/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/ezgif-6-4730550ede-450x300.jpg "Odiong: US-based Nigerian Catholic priest convicted over sexual assault")
