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Fubara vs Wike: Battle for Control in Rivers Unsettles Oil-Rich State
Rivers State has been overwhelmed by political crisis since the coming on board of Governor Siminalayi Fubara on May 29, 2023.
Rivers remains one of the most strategic states in the country. It is the cosmopolitan home base of the nation’s oil and gas industry and is also home to the nation’s second most important sea access and marine economy. Unfortunately, with an embattled governor and in the absence of a functioning legislature, a total breakdown of law and order is not far away.
Findings by EKO HOT BLOG revealed that last October, after some lawmakers loyal to the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, initiated impeachment proceedings against the governor, the power tussle continued unabated.
EKO HOT BLOG gathered that Fubara has spent most of his time mired in political survival at the expense of governance and development of the state. Similarly, Wike has spent more time on the politics of Rivers State than on his primary assignment in Abuja.
In his inaugural speech on May 29, 2023, Governor Siminalayi Fubara promised to uphold the Nigerian Constitution and never to disappoint the people of the oil-rich state.
“The people have voted for us with much hope and expectation. We cannot afford to disappoint them by working at cross purposes,” he said.
Fubara lavished praises on his predecessor, Wike, for helping him become the governor of the second richest state in Nigeria.
“A billion thanks are insufficient to express my gratitude to my boss and our indomitable leader. My family lacks the words to thank you. The Opobo Kingdom cannot thank you enough. Only God can reward you in commensurate terms,” he added.
However, six months into his administration, Fubara and his predecessor became political enemies. Rivers State, dubbed the Treasure Base of the Nation, has become a theater of chaos and destruction.
EKO HOT BLOG gathered that this all started with the bombing of a section of the Rivers House of Assembly Complex on October 29, 2023.
The ugly development resurfaced almost a year later, on October 7, 2024, when three local government secretariats were set ablaze in the state. Below is how it all started.
Impeachment Attempt on Fubara
A section of the State House of Assembly Complex went up in flames on October 29, 2023, after suspected arsonists bombed it. This was on the eve of the impeachment attempt on Governor Fubara. The previously latent rift between Fubara and Wike manifested, signaling the beginning of a long political fight.
Some lawmakers, backed by Wike, initiated impeachment proceedings against Fubara on October 30, 2023, over what the deputy speaker, Maol Dumle, alleged as “misconduct unbecoming of a governor.”
President Bola Tinubu mediated in the political rift between Fubara and Wike at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, on October 31, 2023. The mediation failed after a short while.
The 27 pro-Wike lawmakers announced their defection from the PDP to the APC on December 11, 2023, citing divisions within the PDP.
A State High Court in Port Harcourt issued an order on December 12, 2023, clearing the way for the Fubara-backed four-member Assembly to hold legislative business without interference from the Amaewhule-led faction.
Edison Ehie, the speaker of the four-member faction, declared vacant the seats of the 27 pro-Wike lawmakers who defected to the APC on December 13, 2023, setting the tone for another phase of the political fight.
Fubara presented the N800 billion 2024 budget to the four-member Assembly.
Before presenting the budget, about five excavators began demolishing the Rivers House of Assembly Complex on the state government’s orders around 6 a.m. on the same day.
On December 14, 2023, Fubara signed the N800 billion 2024 appropriation bill into law.
The Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice in the state, Zacchaeus Adangor, resigned, citing “personal principles.”
On December 15, 2023, more of Wike’s loyalists resigned as commissioners, increasing the tally to nine.
Fubara and Wike Sign Peace Deal
On December 18, 2023, Fubara and Wike signed a peace deal at a meeting convened by President Tinubu at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
On December 20, 2023, the lawmakers withdrew the impeachment notice against Governor Fubara.
On December 31, 2023, Ehie, the factional speaker, who led the four-member Fubara-backed Assembly, resigned.
On January 4, 2024, Ehie withdrew a contempt suit against pro-Wike lawmakers, suggesting that the political crisis in the state was approaching an end.
On January 17, 2024, the Rivers Assembly reconfirmed the nine pro-Wike commissioners who resigned from the cabinet in December amid the power tussle between Fubara and Wike.
On January 22, 2024, a Federal High Court in Abuja set aside the state’s N800 billion budget signed into law in December 2023 by Governor Fubara.
Peace Pact Under Threat
On January 26, 2024, the Rivers Assembly stripped Governor Fubara of the power to appoint caretaker committees for local government councils after the Assembly rejected the governor’s veto against its legislation.
On April 24, 2024, Governor Fubara reshuffled his cabinet and redeployed three Wike-backed commissioners. The commissioners rejected their redeployment and resigned hours later.
Peace Deal Collapses
On May 6, 2024, Governor Fubara declared that Rivers had no House of Assembly. “Let me say it here, those groups of men who claimed to be Assembly members do not exist,” he said, signaling the collapse of the controversial peace deal.
On May 8, 2024, Victor Oko-Jumbo, a lawmaker from Bonny Constituency, emerged as the speaker of a three-member Rivers Assembly, creating more confusion and deepening the political crisis in the state.
On May 10, 2024, Fubara relocated the legislative business of the Assembly to the Government House in Port Harcourt.
A State High Court in Port Harcourt barred Wike’s allies from parading themselves as lawmakers.
On May 13, 2024, Governor Fubara vowed to probe the administration of his predecessor, Wike, amid political rifts between the estranged allies.
On May 15, 2024, five more commissioners resigned, citing various reasons.
On May 21, 2024, a State High Court in Port Harcourt nullified the amended Rivers local government law, which granted tenure extension for local government council officials in the state.
On June 7, 2024, the Rivers State Government approved N19.6 billion for the reconstruction of the Rivers House of Assembly Complex, six months after it was demolished.
On June 18, 2024, Fubara, in a statewide broadcast, directed outgoing council officials to vacate their offices immediately following the expiration of their tenure.
The crisis escalated into street violence, leading to the deaths of two persons, including a police operative, prompting the police authority to take over all 23 local government secretariats in the state.
On June 19, 2024, Governor Fubara inaugurated the chairpersons of the caretaker committees for the 23 local government areas in the state.
The Chairperson of the APC Caretaker Committee in Rivers, Tony Okocha, urged President Tinubu to declare a state of emergency in the state, saying there was a full-blown war in the region.
On June 25, 2024, dynamite exploded near Hotel Presidential along Aba Road, Port Harcourt, during a protest in solidarity with Wike.
On July 4, 2024, the Appeal Court in Abuja reinstated the pro-Wike lawmakers. The appellate court said the lower court lacked jurisdiction to grant the ex parte order it issued.
On July 9, 2024, pro-Wike lawmakers gave Governor Fubara a seven-day ultimatum to re-present the 2024 budget to them for consideration, marking their first legislative action after reinstatement.
On July 17, 2024, a State High Court in Port Harcourt barred the PDP from conducting congresses in Rivers.
On July 21, 2024, a Federal High Court in Abuja declined pro-Wike lawmakers’ request to stop Governor Fubara from spending state funds.
On July 24, 2024, a Federal High Court in Abuja directed the PDP to proceed with conducting congresses in Rivers State.
On July 26, 2024, again, a State High Court in Port Harcourt restrained the PDP from holding party congresses in Rivers.
A State High Court in Port Harcourt sacked Okocha’s APC caretaker committee in Rivers and reinstated the Emeka Beke-led party executive.
On August 13, 2024, Wike vowed never to support Fubara again in his political life, stating that his successor was “ungrateful.”
On August 21, 2024, the PDP intervened in the political feud between Fubara and Wike.
On August 23, 2024, the PDP Governors Forum expressed support for Fubara, urging the party’s leadership to accord him his rightful position as the leader of the PDP in Rivers.
On August 25, 2024, the APP in Rivers State urged Governor Fubara to seek re-election in 2027 under the party platform, claiming that the PDP had lost relevance in the state.
On August 31, 2024, Wike threatened to unleash chaos in the state against any PDP governor who dares to take over the party structure from him in Rivers.
Confusion and Violence Over Local Elections
On September 4, 2024, Justice I.P.C. Igwe of a State High Court in Rivers ordered the Rivers State Independent Electoral Commission (RSIEC) to conduct local elections in the state, using the 2023 voters’ register.
Gunmen again attacked the APP office in Port Harcourt, the second time in less than a month, following speculations that Fubara would join the party, an allegation the governor dismissed as “propaganda.”
On September 20, 2024, a Federal High Court in Abuja dismissed a suit seeking to sack pro-Wike lawmakers.
On September 21, 2024, Governor Fubara’s allies picked APP forms for local elections, following the PDP’s boycott of the exercise.
On September 30, 2024, a Federal High Court in Abuja barred INEC from releasing the voters’ register to RSIEC for local elections and further barred the police from providing security for the exercise.
On October 2, 2024, Governor Fubara stated that the INEC voters’ register was in RSIEC custody and declared two days of public holidays for residents to travel to their communities for the elections.
On October 3, 2024, the PDP and APC held a joint protest in Port Harcourt, demanding that local elections be called off.
On October 4, 2024, Governor Fubara visited the RSIEC office and allegedly foiled an attempt by the police to “cart away” materials meant for the local elections. Police barred operatives from providing security for the election.
On October 5, 2024, Fubara conducted local elections in the state, where chairmanship candidates of the APP won in 22 local councils in Rivers, while the Action Alliance won in one.
On October 6, 2024, Fubara inaugurated the chairpersons at Government House.
On October 7, 2024, police unsealed local government secretariats after four months.
Hoodlums dissatisfied with the conduct of the local elections set ablaze the local government council secretariats in Ikwerre, Emohua, and Eleme.
President Tinubu urged political actors in the state to uphold the rule of law, de-escalate the situation, and discourage their supporters from engaging in destructive actions.
On October 8, 2024, Governor Fubara constituted a seven-man judicial panel of inquiry to investigate the causes of post-election violence and make recommendations for the state government.
On October 10, 2024, the Court of Appeal in Abuja affirmed the nullification of the Rivers 2024 budget. The appellate court reaffirmed pro-Wike lawmakers as the legitimate legislative authority in the state.
Governor Fubara filed an appeal at the Supreme Court, insisting that the seats of the defected lawmakers remain vacant.
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