Rivers State Governor, Siminalayi Fubara, has dismissed as untrue allegation that the state is unsafe for business, tourism and meeting point for major events, stressing that there is a deliberate campaign to portray the state as unsafe.

The governor, who stated this on Sunday night at the grand finale of the Python Golf Club’s 6th Edition Chief Ikenna Okafor 2025 ProAmateur Golf Championship in Port Harcourt, noted that the large turnout of visitors from across the African continent was clear evidence that the negative narratives on Rivers in the media are engineered, exaggerated, and politically motivated.

He added that some enemies of Rivers have “weaponised” the state’s challenges in a bid to distort public perception for their own advantage. Fubara said: “I can tell you the truth: more than half of the things you read in the media are not true.

“Worse things have happened in other states, but because they manage their media, people don’t read about them. “But in our case, just to run us down and make us look like the devil with invisible horns, they say anything to portray us in a bad light.”

While acknowledging that earlier political tensions caused about six months of disruption, Fubara emphasised that peace has since returned, allowing security agencies to function more effectively.

He praised the coordinated efforts of the joint security team, describing their performance as “wonderful” since his administration resumed full activity.