Amaechi Okonkwo captures the intractable political crisis rocking Rivers State with the collapse of the peace deal facilitated by President Bola Tinubu between the governor of the state, Siminalayi Fubara and his predecessor, Nyesom Wike over the supremacy battle over the political lever of the oil-bearing state.
IN the ongoing political crisis threatening the peace and stability of Rivers State, one thing has become clear and that is despite the presidential peace proclamation by President Bola Tinubu, expected to resolve the impasse, the gladiators are not ready to shift any ground to accommodate peace but are determined to fight to the finish. The peace deal appears to have collapsed irretrievably.
Both parties are observing the peace initiative in the breach and only determined to gain mastery of the opposition with the leading warlords constantly devising and executing strategies to win the war.
The field marshals on either are daily deploying their men and arsenal to different theatres of the war with the determination to win the war thus forcing the crisis to constantly change in form and even scope.
Last week some new dimensions and theatres were added into the political war with Governor SiminalayiFubara, who has been speaking peace in a very controlled tone, roaring at the Martin Amaewhule-led 27 members of the State Assembly and declaring that they only enjoyed the status of lawmakers because he the governor chose to accord them that recognition.
Governor Fubara thus fired the first salvo in this latest round of exchange of fire. Speaking when the Bayelsa State delegation of political and traditional leaders, led by a former governor, Senator Henry Seriake Dickson, paid him a courtesy visit at the Government House, Port Harcourt last Monday, Fubara stated that the Amaewhule-led assembly were only existing because he had decided to accord them recognition.
His unusual outburst was in response to the many threats emanating from the house of assembly since after the peace pact. The house has overridden the governor on not less than five occasions on some legislations with most of them conspicuously targeted at not only whittling down his powers but also belittling his person and office. Not satisfied with that, they had also gone ahead to threaten the governor with revisiting the impeachment process, the threat which was responsible for the escalation of the crisis in October 2023.
And so, on Monday, in a tone indicative that he had had enough of the lawmakers, he announced the withdrawal of the recognition he had accorded the assembly all the while and declared that the legislators who he immediately referred to as “those group of men” were no longer existing since the law has voided their membership of the assembly following their defection from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to, the All Progressives Congress (APC).
He explained that his recognition of the Martins Amaewhule-led group was predicated on the peace accord initiated by President Tinubu stressing: “Let me say it here, those group of men who claim that they are assembly members, they are not existing. I want it to be on record.
“I accepted that peace accord to give them a floating (soft-landing). That’s the truth. There is nothing in that peace accord that is a constitutional issue. It is a political solution to a problem. I accepted it because these are people that were visiting me and we were together in my house.
“These are people that I have helped in many ways when I wasn’t even a governor. Yes, we might have our disagreements, but I believe that one day, we could also come together. That was the reason I did it.
“But I think it has gotten to a time when I need to make a statement on this thing, so that they understand that they are not existing. Their existence and whatever they have been doing is because I allowed them to do so. If I don’t recognize them, they are nowhere, that is the truth.”
The governor’s statement drew the ire of the opponents. And one of the theatre commanders of the side being marshalled by the Minister of the FCT, Wike, the Caretaker Committee chairman of the APC Rivers State, Chief Tony Okocha, reacted sharply.
Tuesday afternoon he called on the Amaewhule-led House of Assembly to immediately commence the process of impeachment of Governor Fubara, reminding them that since they were currently APC members, they should carry out the instruction as loyal party members.
H stated that the governor besides, refusing to implement all the agreements, had been making scathing remarks on the president’s genuine intervention to resolve the crisis that rocked the state.
He said: “You know the history of politics. You know the constitution of Nigeria. The governor says the assembly members do not exist, that whatever thing they are doing is because he allows them.
“In other words, he has re-written the books. Elementary politics taught us the three organs of government and their roles and goes further to talk about the separation of powers and checks and balances.
“Now what the governor was implying is that he is ruling Rivers State without laws. That Rivers State runs an executive arm and judiciary. So what that implies is simply absurdity. You can now see the tendencies of a dictator.
“As an opposition party in Rivers State, we will not keep quiet. We will shout. Regrettably, the governor has taken us to this point and we will not take it.
“What section of the constitution empowers the governor to declare the Assembly non-existent? The role of the governor is proclamation of the assembly which is done once in four years. The constitution doesn’t allow him for the quarterly proclamation of the assembly.
“He (Fubara) dissolved the House and proclaimed the assembly at the end of the tenure of the Assembly. Mind you the Assembly we are talking about is a representative of the people. The members were duly elected. They are not his appointees.
“So where did the governor derive his powers to say that the assembly is non-existent? Meanwhile, records are there about the correspondence between the governor and the assembly wherein he addressed Martin Amaewhule as the Speaker of the Rivers State House of Assembly when the nine commissioners resigned. He wrote to the House for them to be screened and were consequently reassigned their portfolios.
“We want this to be on record as the chairman of the APC in Rivers State, as the representative of Mr President, we won’t sit here to see the governor declare on his own as if he is in court.
“He has become Daniel, who is sitting in judgment to declare the assembly members’ seats vacant. To that extent in consultation with my party, we have directed and we are directing the assembly members as APC members who are in the assembly to immediately commence the impeachment of Governor SiminalayiFubara.
“We have directed members of the Rivers State House of Assembly to commence the impeachment process of a comatose government. The governor’s head has become bigger than his pillow. He does not respect the law.’’
As the state was still processing the interplay of the exchanges between the warring parties, the public was informed of the election of a new Speaker for the State House of Assembly.
Hon. Victor Oko-Jumbo, the member representing Bonny State Constituency from the four-member faction who were led by Edison Ehie, factional Speaker to Amaewhule until his resignation from the membership of the assignment.
Also elected is Leader of the House, Hon. SokariGoodboySokari, who emerged Leader of the house. Both made up the four members of the assembly who were led by Edison Ehie, who after the peace proclamation by President Tinubu resigned his position and was subsequently appointed Chief of Staff to Governor Fubara.
This faction of the assembly who are loyal to the governor had adjourned sine dine and have been silence until Wednesday evening when the story of their sitting hit the airwaves.
And just Thursday, in a move which has been interpreted as a push by Gov. Fubara to evict the Amaewhule-led 27 lawmakers from the quarters, he was reported to have paid and unscheduled visit to quarters.
The governor’s statement that his visit was to undertake on-the-spot assessment of condition of the structures for a possible rehabilitation work to restore their status and make them “liveable”, has generated serious buzz across the state with many fearing that he would not mind demolishing the assembly quarters which were extensively and tastefully rehabilitated and commissioned by Wike very close to the winding up of his era as governor of Rivers State.
The governor was quoted as saying: “Is the Assembly quarters not part of my property? Is there anything wrong in going to check how things are going on there?
“You are aware of the developments. We have a new speaker, and I went there to see for myself how things are. There might be a few things I might want to do there for the good of our people.”
His action has sent shivers down the spine of the assembly members residing in the quarters with rumours having it that they kept awake all through the night for fear of being the governor’s next step.
In his reaction, factional Speaker of the 27 pro-Wike assembly members, Amaewhule, said the lawmakers do not need his visit to their quarters, noting that all the buildings in the quarters were still new and not due for renovation.
He wondered why the governor would visit their quarters uninvited, even as he expressed fears that the governor was on the move to demolish the assembly quarters.
He said: “I want the world to see the building. There is nothing wrong with the buildings. It is not even up to two years old. It was constructed by the immediate past administration and commissioned in August 2022.
“Rivers people were stunned this afternoon when they got the information that the governor of the state, Sir SiminalayiFubara, stormed the quarters of the Rivers State House of Assembly, yet in another attempt to demolish the quarters just the same way he demolished the Rivers State House of Assembly Complex.”
Amaewhule, who said the Rivers Assembly quarters was one of the best in Nigeria, expressed disappointment over the alleged undue interference by the governor, stating that the Rivers State House of Assembly quarters was built for members of the House of Assembly, not for the Executive arm. He said the governor’s actions are unbecoming of a leader who is supposed to uphold the sanctity of the law.
“We are ashamed to have a governor who has no respect for our constitution, laws, and democracy. Indeed, our governor is an assault to our democracy,” Amaewhule said.
He said while other governors are looking for ways to improve the well-being of their people, Governor Fubara is busy looking for structures to demolish, adding that he has nothing to show but to demolish what other past governors have built.
The speaker affirmed that members of the 10th Rivers State House of Assembly are not afraid and will continue to make laws for the good governance of the state, stressing that the governor has no power over the legislature, as the House of Assembly is a creation of the constitution.
As always, citizens and residents of the states have continued to take sides in the matter. The Wike faction has its supporters just as Fubara’s also enjoys the sympathy of many with the spectrum of supporters cutting across different strata of the society.
Unfortunately, both sides now seemed prepared to fight to the finish with the clear trophy of the war being the political control of Rivers State.
And the reason for the sudden increase in fireworks political watchers have identified as the June congresses of the PDP which is the foundation of the political structure. So as the elections into the wards, local governments and state executives of the party, each faction is intensifying moves to ensure it outwits the other and seizes control of the party structure.
Regrettably, they are both ready to go to unreasonable lengths to ensure they achieve their aim not minding the consequences of their actions to peace, progress and overall development of the state.
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