Prominent activist and member of the Rivers Elders Forum, Ann-Kio Briggs, has accused the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) of betraying the trust of Rivers people, lamenting that the party’s failure to act decisively worsened the prolonged political crisis in the state.
Speaking on Channels Television’s Sunday Politics, Briggs said despite the loyalty of Rivers residents to the PDP since 1999, the party failed to rise to the occasion when its intervention was most needed.
“I definitely feel, as a stakeholder and elder, let down by the PDP because, since 1999, we have always voted, including me, for the PDP. If they had stepped in and done what they should have done from the beginning, not just in Rivers State but across the Niger Delta, the PDP would not find itself where it is today,” she said.
PDP’s Negligence
Briggs argued that internal divisions and power struggles weakened the PDP’s influence and worsened Rivers’ political situation. She maintained that the crises damaging the state could have been avoided had the party acted responsibly.
Tinubu’s Role
While Governor Siminalayi Fubara has repeatedly thanked President Bola Tinubu for brokering peace in Rivers, Briggs distanced herself from such sentiments, saying gratitude should not be taken for granted.
“Definitely not. Even the President himself will be aware that not everybody in Rivers State is going to be eternally grateful to him, or to the Minister of the FCT, Nyesom Wike, or any of the politicians, for that matter. I am not as happy or grateful to the APC as the governor is. He is the politician, and I am not,” she stated.
According to her, both the APC and PDP share responsibility for deepening the crisis in the state.
Lesson for the Electorate
Briggs stressed that the most profound outcome of the crisis has not been for politicians but for the people themselves.
“I think the biggest lesson has been learned by the people of Rivers State—the electorate—to know that we have rights that are much bigger and more profound than the rights the politicians believe they have. They won’t be where they are without the people of Rivers State,” she said.
