Tony John, Port Harcourt
Chairman of Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF) and Ekiti State Governor, Kayode Fayemi, has declared that he could not see any evidence that a building existed on the disputed land in Rainbow Town, Port Harcourt, where some persons alleged that the Rivers State Government demolished a mosque.
Speaking with journalists after a joint assessment of the disputed land with Governor Nyesom Wike at Rainbow Town yesterday, Fayemi described the entire controversy as a storm in a tea cup.
He said: “With what I have seen, I cannot see evidence of any building that has been demolished here.
“If you are somebody, who wants a place of worship, you should find a way to oblige them. I know within your capacity, it will be possible to find a place for them.
“From what I have seen here, I think it is a storm in a tea cup. There is nothing to warrant this kind of media hype that has been given to it.”
The NGF chairman said his assessment visit was necessitated by a call to Governor Wike after the controversy on the disputed land broke out.
The Ekiti State governor said when the controversy started, he placed a call to Governor Wike, who pointedly emphasised that no Mosque was demolished.
He said Wike explained the history of the disputed land, informing that it started during the former governor Chibuike Amaechi’s administration and that, the matter was already in court.
“If they cannot have this place that is in contention and have gone to court, and you have respected their right to go to court, if they want to come back and seek a request to have another place, I plead that His Excellency should oblige them,” Fayemi said.
In his response, Governor Wike thanked Fayemi for exhibiting leadership by visiting the state to see things for himself.
Wike, who noted that Fayemi has confirmed that there was no Mosque as was wrongly reported, wondered why people politicise everything.
“I want to thank the chairman of my forum for, at least, coming to see things for himself. He called me while he was away and I told him, you know that I cannot do something like that and he said okay, when he comes back, he will come to see me and he has fulfilled that promise. That shows leadership and from what he has seen, there was no mosque,” he said.