Six months after Rivers State governor, Siminialayi Fubara, was suspended by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, he is set to resume governance on Thursday, September 18, barring any last minute change of plans by the President, but many political leaders and residents of the state are not excited.
Niger Delta activist, Ann-Kio Briggs and a host of others told Saturday Telegraph that the return of Fubara is not worth looking forward to, especially as the suspended governor faces fresh challenges in a politically charged environment where he has lost the grip.
Fubara, who is set to be reinstated, would be returning to a state where the All Progressives Congress (APC) has taken control of 20 local government areas, while the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) controls just three council areas.
He will also have to cope with a House of Assembly controlled by the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Barrister Nyesom Wike. These are some of the issues raising concerns in Rivers, as Fubara will return with the stark realisation that he will henceforth work with the Rt. Hon. Martins Amaewhule-led Rivers State House of Assembly, as well as commissioners he did not appoint.
Kio-Briggs said there’s nothing to look forward to about Fubara’s reinstatement, noting that in the first place there were no grounds or basis for the declaration of the state of emergency.
She told Saturday Telegraph that the constitution is clear whether or not the President should have declared a state of emergency in Rivers, stressing that the constitution was breached after almost two-year control of the legislative arm of government.
Kio-Briggs also frowned at the manner in which Wike announced during the recent council polls in the state that Fubara would be reinstated, rather than Tinubu who announced the suspension.
“When President Tinubu declared a state of emergency in Rivers State, we didn’t accept it, because it is not in the constitution to suspend a governor from his duties. So we kept calling for the suspension of the state of emergency.
“It was the President who declared a state of emergency, but it was the former governor, now FCT minister, who told Nigerians that Fubara is coming back. This was after he told us that they have made peace.
“Until the President announces the lifting of the suspension, I am not expecting that he is coming back.The other position is that the local government election has been conducted illegally by Ibas, who is not a Rivers man. These are my worries.”
She added: “Moving forward, when Fubara is reinstated, the fear I have is that he will be working with commissioners he didn’t appoint, and council chairmen whose election he didn’t conduct.
“He is going to be working with people that Ibas appointed. I am not excited, and I am not expecting anything. We have to wait after a month or two to see whether or not he is allowed to perform.”
A chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Chief Eze Chukwuemeka Eze, also expressed fears that the much needed progress might not come judging by the circumstances the state of emergency was declared in Rivers.
Eze, who is a close ally of former Governor, Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi, noted that the declaration of the state of emergency was an opportunity for some persons to loot the resources of the state.
Eze said: “I don’t have details of their peace accord and I have no knowledge on how Fubara is going to operate, but I don’t see any hope or progress for Rivers State in what Tinubu and Wike have done to Rivers State and her people.
“The unwarranted state of emergency was done just to misappropriate the resources of Rivers State by greedy and selfish leaders.”
He also hinged Fubara’s working relationship with the Amaewhule-led Rivers Assembly on what was agreed at the peace accord, noting that the interest of Rivers people was not considered.
In its reaction, the International Society for Social Justice and Human Rights (ISSJHR), called for peace and understanding among the political stakeholders, in order for development to thrive.
The chancellor of ISSJHR, Dr. Omenazu Jackson, urged “all political stakeholders in Rivers State to put the interest of the people above partisan loyalty,” stressing that” peace, stability, and development are inseparable and must remain the collective priority.”
