Anabs Sara-Igbe is the National Coordinator of the South-South Elders Forum and a chieftain of the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Rivers State. In this interview monitored on Arise Television, he speaks on the return of democratic governance in the state and what Governor Siminalayi Fubara and members of the House of Assembly are expected to do to sustain peace, among other issues, ANAYO EZUGWU writes

With the official return to democratic rule in Rivers; what is the state of things and how are the people feeling after lifting of the suspension on the governor?

You can see that Rivers people are so excited to see their governor, because since he left, everything came to a standstill. If we’re talking of Mr. Project, Sim Fubara is Mr. Project. He has projects across the whole state. There’s no local government where he was not having a project running.

But since the past six months, everything came to a halt, and we don’t know what IbokEte Ibas has done with the money. We don’t know how he spent his money, but all we know is we want our governor to come and start the good work he’s doing.

The House of Assembly, led by Martin Amaewhule, sat immediately after the end of the emergency rule and asked the governor to present the budget. What do you make of their directive?

I will advise members of the Assembly not to be hostile. They all just came back. We believe the both parties have learned their lessons, and what Rivers people want is peace and harmony. We don’t need acrimony. It is the duty of the governor to choose his commissioners, and at an appropriate time, present them to the House of Assembly. He cannot be stampeded to do that.

The governor is just coming back to office. He needs to settle down and look at the books and what is around him, before he would now know the team to work with. There were agreements and there were compromises. At this point, we have to review them and know which ones to be implemented.

I believe the governor is willing to implement those agreements reached, and he will be able to bring development to River State. Rivers people also believe that both the Nyesom Wike Fubara factions are interested in the development of Rivers State. Therefore, Rivers State development should be sacrosanct to all of us but we cannot get that without peace.

The governor should call members of the House of Assembly, they are his friends. Whatever has happened has happened and gone. Also, the legislators should see Fubara as the governor and as their friend. They should bury the hatchet and work together in the interest of the state.

We do not see what the sole administrator did or used our money for. There is no visible project he can point to as what he did with Rivers money in six months

This is the era of peace and teamwork. We need to work as a team to see that we bring development to the state because, in the past six months, when a stranger came to plunder our resources, nobody was able to say anything.

We know that the state of emergency was unconstitutional, contrary to section 114 of the Constitution, which banned the National Assembly from making laws that would remove elected governors. But be that as it may, even section 305 did not guarantee that the President would do what he did.

But that is all history. What we need now is how the state can move forward. We are now like every other state where democratic governance is in place. So, we appeal to all concerned to ensure that there should be teamwork, mutual understanding, trust among themselves and let them work for the interest of the state that elected them.

Labour Party is calling for an immediate investigation into the six-month emergency rule in Rivers State. What do you make of this statement?

That is the opinion. They have the right to that opinion. But what is paramount is that Nigeria has institutions that can investigate corruption. We have the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and we have the Independent Corrupt Practices and other related offences Commission (ICPC).

The state House of Assembly is also empowered to investigate corruption in the state. It is not the duty of the governor to go about investigating the sole administrator or anybody that is involved.

The judiciary is to interpret when the EFCC carries out its operations. So, as far as we are concerned in Rivers State, we do not see what the sole administrator did or used our money for. There is no visible project he can point to as what he did with Rivers money in six months. So, it is left for the EFCC and the ICPC to find out what really happened.

What we would advise the governor to do is to build bridges and ensure that peace and tranquility is achieved in Rivers State. Let him concentrate on his developmental stride; let him build more roads, more schools, more hospitals and health centres, and ensure that salaries are paid. That is the desire of Rivers people. People, who are into small-scale business and other things, should be empowered.

We are not interested in the governor investigating the sole administrator, when we have the EFCC and ICPC that can do that. We also have the National Assembly that can investigate what has happened to the state because they put us into this mess, knowing fully well that on that they have no powers to make laws to remove an elected governor.

Rivers people are not interested. We are looking at that as a bygone matter. We want to move forward. We have been deprived of development, so what we need now is the governor ensuring that development goes around the entire state as it used to be.

The sole administrator, Ibas, during his handover, said one of the enduring lessons is that the exercise of power without restraint can cripple institutions, and that rivalry without dialogue, clearly endangers democracy. Do you think such lessons have been learnt?

We believe that both parties have learnt their lessons because the state that elected them has suffered for the past six months. There was no problem in Rivers State.

There was no security threat in Rivers State before the state of emergency was declared. We have seen crisis in northern part of the country and that’s what section 305 of the constitution is meant for.

There was peace in Rivers and Ibas also confirmed that. There is no problem in the state as Rivers people are very peaceful, and we must continue to remain peaceful. What we are concerned about today is that our governor should come and move the state forward.

You can see everybody jubilating that the illegal institution has been dismantled. So, we want Governor Fubara to build bridges. We want him to reach out to everybody. Let us come together as a family and work towards the development of the state.

Wike said President Tinubu is committed to peace and that his intervention has restored River people’s confidence. Would you say that what he is saying holds sway in the state?

We are not here to comment on what somebody says. What is important is the minister himself was a former governor and is a son of Rivers State.

The present governor is also a son of Rivers State. Both of them should come back and work together. If I would recall; at the town hall meeting, I called for peace and asked Wike to call his godson, the governor, into the room and lock themselves up and resolve the issue. Today, Rivers people are happy that Wike has done exactly what we asked him or what we expected him to do.

We want that peace process to continue. We want that dialogue to continue. We want that harmony to continue. That is what Rivers people are interested in. We are not interested in any story of what this person said or what that person did not say.

Our concern today is that our governor has come back and that he should be able to do the work without hindrance. It is also our belief that whatever negotiation they have will be in the interest of Rivers State and the people of Rivers.

Which turn do you expect governance to take with the governor as a PDP member and 27 members of the House, now APC members, with only four members on Fubara’s side?

I’m just hearing from you that the Assembly members are now APC. Before the Supreme Court, they said they are not APC as they have not decamped. We don’t want to go into those intricacies.

Whether there is anybody who is wrong or right does not matter at this stage. The stage we are is peace building and reconciliation. The stage we are is mutual understanding.

The stage we are is how to move the state forward. We have been taken backwards to four or five years within six months. So, how do we meet up with this backwardness to compete with other states?

We are now enjoying democracy as it were, but we want this democracy to continue in peace and dialogue. There is nothing dialogue cannot resolve. There is nothing peace cannot bring. So, both parties should resort to peace building, dialogue and move ahead in the interest of the state.