• Your probe mere witch-hunt, will escalate crisis, Sen Worgu warns Fubara
• Ex-FRSC boss says Wike-Fubara fight similar to Awolowo-Akintola feud
• Blame Wike for your woes, PDP youths tell 27 defected lawmakers
All gloves are now off in the ensuing feud between ‘godson’, Rivers State Governor, Siminalayi Fubara, and ‘godfather’, the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike. The centre also can no longer hold in the unfolding melodrama, as the agreements reached during the Presidency’s intervention have been irrevocably breached.
At the turn of the week, the Presidency, foreseeing the spiraling descent between the two gladiators, implicitly expressed its neutrality in the crisis just as the duo – godfather and godson – upped the ante. Wike fired the first salvo, admitting his choice of Fubara as successor was a mistake to be soon corrected, and Fubara, hitting back, went for the jugular, inaugurating a new Attorney-General, whose sole mission is to institute a panel of inquiry to probe Wike.
Turning a new page yesterday, the governor, hitting harder, disclosed that contrary to the false impression created by his predecessor, Wike had, left a huge debt burden for his administration with the rash of last-minute projects the latter embarked on last year.
Fubara, who lamented how several contractors handled different projects for the immediate past administration and were yet to be paid, said: “This is to let the world know that if there is one problem this administration has, it is a huge debt burden. For most of the projects that are being commissioned, the contractors are coming for their balance and it is running into billions.
“I have said that I don’t want to talk. I didn’t want to talk because I was part of that system. But when you keep pushing me to talk, I will say it, so that the people will know the true situation of things and be properly informed.”
The governor said this, yesterday, at Ebubu community during the inauguration of the reconstructed 10.89km Aleto-Ogale-Ebubu-Eteo road in Eleme Local Council. The inauguration, which was done by Abia State Governor, Alex Otti, was part of activities marking Fubara’s one year in office.
Reacting to the move by the governor to set up “a judicial panel of inquiry to investigate the affairs of governance in the state,” a former senator, Olaka Nwogu, told Fubara that his plan to probe the past administration is a mere witch-hunt that would escalate the ongoing crisis.
Nwogu, who represented Rivers South-East at the National Assembly, said any attempt to initiate a probe at this stage of the crisis between Fubara and his predecessor would be viewed as vendetta.
Speaking in Port Harcourt, Nwogu said such a probe would never be objective because Fubara and Wike ran the same administration.
He said while Wike was the governor, Fubara was the gatekeeper, insisting there was no way such investigation would not be selective to advance a particular narrative.
Nwogu, who noted that the current disposition of the governor has negated all peace overtures, said: “There is nothing extraordinary about investigation except that in the circumstances we find ourselves, it will not appear as something done to promote good governance. It appears as designed for a witch-hunt or to endorse a particular label already put on somebody. Recall that when this began, they started saying that the minister (Wike) was asking for a certain percentage of money, which is not true.”
Describing the planned probe as diversionary, he said: “It is preconceived to hoodwink people to think the other way. How are Wike and Fubara different? They ran the same government. One was the gatekeeper of the other. This is going to be very selective. This is an attempt to criminalise a good governor that was the envy of the entire nation. We should be careful about how far we escalate this. Let me ask people to be mindful.”
A former Corps Marshal and Chief Executive of the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), Osita Chidoka, has likened the lingering Rivers State crisis to that which happened in Western Nigeria in 1962. He noted that the governor’s unending rift with his predecessor shares a lot of similarities with the Action Group (AG) crisis.
Raising the alarm on Tuesday via his X handle, #osita_chidoka, the former minister insisted that lessons must be learnt from history to avoid unhealthy recurrence. His tweet read: “Rivers State altercation: the parallel between Rivers State and Western Nigeria’s 1962 crisis is getting uncanny, almost spooky.
“I wrote months back about the similarity between the Action Group crisis and the unfolding Rivers altercation. In 1962, Dr Majekodunmi, sole administrator of the Western Region, set up the Coker Panel of Inquiry into the Affairs of certain parastatals. The panel found Awolowo guilty and exonerated Akintola. Rivers State panel of inquiry of the past eight years would indict someone and exonerate civil servants obeying lawful orders.”
Meanwhile, Chidoka, a former Minister of Aviation, said: “The Federal Government’s interference in the Rivers crisis is needless, unnecessary, and can cause grave harm to constitutional government.”
Fubara had two weeks ago explained that the intervention of President Bola Tinubu in the crisis between him and Wike was political and not constitutional.
Drawing reference from a post he earlier made on December 20, 2023, on ‘Medium’ titled, “Rivers State Crisis: Lesson from 1962 Western Nigeria Crisis”, Chidoka gave a timeline of the AG crisis.
Backing his claims in the timeline, he wrote, “The sequence of events account was drawn from two opposing sources, one by Chief (Obafemi)Awolowo in his book, The Travails of Democracy and the other from Ayo Rosiji Man with Vision by Nina Mba.”
Summarily, the piece noted that in 1962, a political crisis erupted in Nigeria’s Western Region. Chief SL Akintola was removed as Premier, sparking chaos.
The Federal Government intervened, declaring a state of emergency. This event marked the start of the First Republic’s downfall. The former FRSC boss stated that history is available to help avert needless crises.
For the Director of the Abuja School of Social and Political Thoughts, Sam Amadi, the ongoing drama makes it look like a tragedy to be a citizen of Rivers State. Amadi said it would be resurrection if sanity returned to Rivers.
Posting on X, the public affairs analyst wrote: “It looks like a tragedy to be a citizen of Rivers State for at least the last 10 years. The clowning is heartbreaking. Everyday thanksgiving service, rally & press conference. The day sanity is restored in Rivers will be a resurrection day. Cry for the beleaguered state.”
Since October 30, 2023, Rivers has been embroiled in a political crisis. The crisis became public knowledge following an explosion that shook the hallowed chamber of the State Assembly complex on the night of October 29, 2023. Following the fire incident, the state lawmakers initiated an impeachment process against Fubara and suspended four lawmakers.
This incident has left the state Assembly deeply divided, with 27 lawmakers aligning with Wike while three remained loyal to Governor Fubara, after the resignation of one, Edison Ehie, who now serves as the Chief-of-Staff to him.
To quell the crisis, President Bola Tinubu had in December 2023, intervened in the crisis, leading to the formulation of an eight-point resolution signed by Fubara and Wike. But that process has now failed.
However, a Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) youth body, under the aegis of the National Solidarity Vanguard, has alleged that Wike was responsible for the emergence of factions in the Rivers House of Assembly. Recall that Fubara had declared the seats of about 25 lawmakers loyal to Wike vacant.
Amid the political crisis rocking the state, the governor insisted that the defection of the lawmakers led by Amaewhule Martins from the PDP to the All Progressives Congress (APC), remained illegal. The development led to the emergence of a factional Assembly led by Victor Oko-Jumbo.
The PDP group, at a press briefing in Abuja on Tuesday, accused Wike of instigating crisis within the party at both national and state levels. Usman Saidu Calculus, the Executive Director of the PDP group, while addressing the press in Abuja, described Wike as a saboteur working against the party.
“Wike, once a prominent member of our party played a pivotal role in this monumental loss. His actions have cost us dearly, and we cannot remain silent,” the statement said.
“To the extent that he has weakened the party for the APC, we can no longer consider him a member of our party. He is already enjoying the 30 pieces of silver he sold the PDP for.
“Let this be a stern message to all who would put their ambitions above the party’s well-being and future. We cannot afford to lose more lawmakers or members in other states, especially when the stakes are now so high ahead of the next general elections,” the statement added.
