Hope had already waned due to sheer frustration until Thursday, June 27, when pictures of President Bola Tinubu, beaming with smiles and sandwiched by equally excited Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, Nyesom Wike, and suspended Governor Siminalayi Fubara of Rivers State, emerged on various social media platforms.
It was one of several peace meetings brokered by the President to reconcile the two warring factions, led by Wike against his political godson, Fubara, on the other hand.
The crisis had lingered for close to two years, with both parties not willing to sheathe the sword
Tinubu, in his wisdom, had declared a state of emergency in Rivers on March 18, 2025, to douse the rising political tension that almost consumed the political soul of the state.
The crisis had denied the people of the state the opportunity of actively participating in the celebration of the two years in office of the Fubara administration held on May 29 and the June 12 Democracy Day.
Vice Admiral Ibok Etteh Ibas (retd) was appointed as the Sole Administrator of the state with express instruction to ensure the restoration of peace and security for an initial six months.
But with the Thursday late night peace meeting, which included the representative of the state House of Assembly, Speaker Martin Amaewhule, Fubara, Wike and a handful of stakeholders, hope has once again been ignited that the governor may return to his duty post any time soon.
No Second Term
Laudable as the outcome of the peace parley may look on the surface, Fubara was said to have been subjected to stringent conditions as a precursor to his reinstatement.
One such agreement, according to a credible source, was that the governor would only run a single term in office.
In other words, he would not seek re-election in 2027.
The source said: “Yes, he (Fubara) has agreed to do one term as a condition to his return as governor.
“This is predicated on the fact that the governor failed to recognize the source that brought him to power.
“He abandoned his political family to hobnob with Wike’s political enemies and those who never wanted him as governor of the state in 2023″.
If this condition is implemented, Fubara would make history as the first democratically elected governor to serve a single tenure in the history of Rivers. His exit in 2027 will only pave the way for an easy installment of “a loyal ally” of the FCT Minister as the next governor of the state.
The source hinted that the choice of Fubara’s successor would not raise any ethnic crisis as a candidate from the riverine dichotomy would be chosen to complete the eight years for that region before power rotates again to the upland.
Defection
Also on the list of conditions which the source said Fubara consented to was an “order” for the governor to defect from the embattled Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, to the All Progressives Congress, APC.
The defection of Fubara has become a necessity given the fact that PDP has failed to stamp itself as a credible opposition political party in the Tinubu administration.
More so, given the fact that most PDP governors in the South-South geo-political zone, except Douye Diri of Bayelsa state, have all defected to the ruling APC, Fubara has nothing to lose but to follow suit.
“APC wants to get the entire southern Nigeria because there is no guarantee that the North will support Tinubu in 2027”, the source hinted.
Council Polls
The Sole Administrator of the state, Ette-Ibas, has already scheduled August 9 for the local government elections in Rivers.
Information from the Thursday night peace meeting has it that Fubara will be the one to conduct the council elections but would not be an active participant.
This is a carefully orchestrated power-play that will give some sense of credibility to the appointment of Michael Odey as the Chairman of Rivers State Independent Electoral Commission, RSIEC.
The appointment of Odey, an indigene of Cross River State, had sparked disenchantment in the Senate with some prominent senators, including Senator Alli Ndume, opposing such appointment without a recourse to Federal Character.
However, Fubara was said to have been told not to nominate any candidate, “not even a councilor”, for the elections. Another source, who was privy to the Thursday night meeting, said that “it is most likely that the former Council Chairmen loyal to Wike may be allowed to come back and complete their second term in the course of the August polls.
He said after the council elections, the Supreme Court judgment on the autonomy of local government councils would be upheld to the letter. Accordingly, allocations from the Federation Account will now go directly to the councils without the interference of the governor.
More Conditions
Fubara was also said to have agreed to ensure the full payment of the outstanding allowances of the 27 House of Assembly lawmakers as a pre-condition to avoid impeachment threat by the Amaewhule-led lawmakers.
Also on the table was the condition that the governor must do away with the likes of the Secretary to the State Government, SSG, Dr. Tammy Danagogo, the Chief of Staff Government House, CoS, Dr. Edison Ehie, former Speaker, Victor Oko-Jumbo, and former commissioners and political appointees.
Accordingly, every appointment must take a fresh start with Wike having the upper hand to nominate who becomes what in government.
This arrangement is to strip the governor of all known political “enemies” of the FCT Minister.
“He is a prodigal son who has come to his senses. He has a political family. He belongs to the Wike political dynasty. He must come home clean. Those people who were hanging around him were the true enemies of the state. They never wanted Fubara as governor, in the first place”, the source said.
This presupposes that the likes of Dr. Abiye Sekibo, Uche Secondus, Austin Opara, Celestine Omehia, Dr. Peter Odili and many more have been surgically detached from the governor, going forward.
Barring any unforeseen development, this strategic step is to enhance Tinubu’s unhindered victory in his second term bid in 2027.
Stakeholders’ Expectations
Stakeholders in Rivers politics and beyond have agreed that with this last peace meeting between the President and the two key players, time has come for the governor to be reinstated within the next few days or “at most one week”.
President of the Ijaw National Congress, INC, Prof Benjamin Okaba, said: “It will not be out of place if Governor Sim is reinstated in the next 24 hours. As Ijaw nation, we have been praying for peace in Rivers State. With this peace meeting, I believe that the crisis has finally come to an end”.
Okaba, who was not happy with the appointment of Odey as the RSIEC Chairman, said that every appointment made by the Sole Administrator was an aberration.
He expressed optimism that whatever agreement Fubara must have signed to guarantee his return should not be such that would be detrimental to the overall wellbeing of the state.
Another leader of Ijaw nation, Joseph Ambakaderimo, who is also the Convener of the South-South Reawakening Group, SSRG, described Tinubu as a true democrat who never got tired of ensuring that the political crisis in Rivers was “carefully” brought to an end without harming any of the parties involved.
Ambakaderimo said: “We are very happy about the reconciliation. We thank Mr. President for his resolve to carry this to the end.
“Now is the time to restore all the democratic institutions that were suspended in the past three months. We believe that anytime soon, Governor Fubara will be reinstated”.
Also, Opunabo Inkor-Tariah, a Senior Special Adviser, SSA, to Wike when he was governor, said it was obvious that this meeting would be the last peace agreement that would usher in the most expected peace in Rivers state.
His words: “It seems that everything will work out as envisaged this time.
“My instinct tells me that within the next one week, at most 10 days, I expect President Tinubu to bring back to life all democratic institutions in the state. That includes the reinstatement of the governor, his deputy and the legislative arm of government.
“Within the next one week, we want to walk up in the morning and hear the announcement that the Rivers suspended governor has been reinstated”.
Inkor-Tariah appealed to the President not to allow any agreement issued out to be skewed to the favour of one parties in the crisis to the overall detriment of the state.
Source: Vanguard
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