Apex socio-political body of the South-South geopolitical zone, Pan Niger Delta Forum, PANDEF, has raised alarm that the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, Nyesom Wike, is using all available means to block peace efforts in Rivers State.
PANDEF urged President Bola Tinubu to intervene and ensure that Wike comes to the negotiation table before the situation in Rivers State spirals out of control.
Addressing journalists yesterday in Abuja, Chairman of PANDEF’s Peace and Reconciliation Committee and former governor of Akwa Ibom State, Obong Victor Attah, said all efforts to engage the former Rivers State governor with its Peace and Reconciliation Committee, despite President Tinubu’s appeal for dialogue to restore stability in Rivers State, have proved abortive.
Flanked at the briefing by PANDEF’s National Chairman, Ambassador Godknows Igali, Obong Attah lamented that Wike’s unwillingness to meet with the committee is obstructing efforts to de-escalate tension.
Attah detailed how PANDEF, a respected regional body established in 2016 to champion the interest of the Niger Delta, had taken proactive steps to mediate in the political crisis in Rivers State.
He said, “Following a Special General Assembly in Port Harcourt in October 2024, the group set up a seven-member High-Level Peace and Reconciliation Committee.
Notably, it excluded representatives from Rivers State to ensure neutrality.
“In a determination to prevent a full-blown crisis from developing, we constituted a team of eminent elders across the South-South region.
“However, despite repeated attempts, we have been unable to secure a meeting with Chief Wike who has continued to rebuff our peace efforts.”
Attah, who noted that a PANDEF delegation met with President Tinubu on March 11 to seek his intervention, said they made it clear that the success of any peace process hinges on Wike’s willingness to come to the table.
He said, “We informed Mr President of the difficulties we have faced in securing the cooperation of his cabinet minister.
“It is deeply troubling that Chief Wike has dismissed PANDEF as ‘the worst organisation for anyone to rely on’ in a recent media chat, yet the president did not treat us with such disregard when he received us.”
Attah stressed that dialogue requires mutual engagement and cannot be forced upon one party alone.
“It is not possible to clap with one hand. Negotiation can only take place if both parties in dispute agree to be accessible and available.
“Given the minister’s continued rebuff, PANDEF is now considering withdrawing entirely from mediation efforts. If this impasse persists, we will have no choice but to disband the Peace and Reconciliation Committee and step back from further attempts to resolve this crisis. However, our fear is that this could have catastrophic consequences.”
