BY GBENGA OKE

Riverine communities of Rivers State, under the auspices of Eastern Delta People’s Association, EDPA, have demanded to produce the successor to the incumbent governor of the state, Mr. Rotimi Amaechi, at the expiration of his tenure.

The communities said they had long been denied access to the number one seat of the state despite their huge economic contributions to the state since 1999.

Speaking at a symposium, attended by representatives of  Andoni, Opobo-Nkoro, Bonny, Okrika, Ogu-Bolo, Port Harcourt (South), Asari-Toru, Degema, Akuku-Toru and Abua-Odual, the people vowed to discard all parochial interests to pursue their common destiny and demanded to be treated fairly in the political space.

Speaking, Chairman of the Steering Committee of EDPA, Deacon Lawrence Jumbo, said the group seeks to promote unity, peace and progress among all the Ijaw speaking communities in Rivers State as well as promote harmony and cooperation between the Ijaw speaking communities and their neighbours.

He said: “We are trying to set the agenda for human and infrastructural development of the Ijaw speaking communities of Rivers State and the state in general and we intend to pursue the protection and preservation of the ideals of equity, fairness and justice as they relate to the Ijaw speaking people of the Eastern Delta.

“In the light of the fast approaching political dispensation, there is urgent need for the people of Eastern Delta to have a platform on which to articulate their interests and raise the bar of agitation for the people of the area to be seriously considered for the position of governor in 2015.”

He pointed out that nature has so made it that Upland/Riverine dichotomy in Rivers State was undeniable and it would only be fair and just for both  to produce the governor of the state successively.

“This symposium provides a veritable and non-aligned platform for Rivers Ijaws to articulate and pursue their common interest irrespective of their political affiliations as there is an urgent need after a long wait of 16 years to lay serious claim to the top seat of governance in Rivers State.”