President Bola Tinubu’s assurances of imminent return of peace in Rivers State seem very remote. The recent confessions by the former Head of Service have opened up new fronts. The startling revelations of Dr George Nwaeke may elongate the emergency regime, ANN GODWIN reports.
If the ongoing media battle between the forces loyal to suspended incumbent Governor of Rivers State, Siminalayi Fubara, and his predecessor, the incumbent Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Ezenwo Nyesom Wike, is anything to go by, there is a plot to elongate the emergency regime of Retired Vice Admiral Ibok-Ete Ibas.
It all started from video and scripted rehearsal wars among citizens of Rivers State, especially, from the former Head of Service, Dr George Nwaeke, his wife, Florence and other key players. Those were curious indicators that the so-called peace expected as immediate outcome of President Bola Tinubu’s declaration of State of Emergency in the state may not be realised soon.
Notwithstanding the intrigues and infighting among the warring parties and their followers, the state has enjoyed relative peace.
Old grudges
As the former political allies seek to undo each other, the involvement of the former Head of Service (HoS), Nwaeke, has helped to throw an intriguing mix into the melee. Nwaeke, it should be noted, was an insider in both the administrations of the two gladiators, former Governor Wike and suspended Governor Fubara.
For instance, during Wike’s administration, Nwaeke was Permanent Secretary in the cabinet office and as such, privy to almost all executive decisions. In Fubara’s time, he was Head of Service with a chair in the State Executive.
Four days after his resignation, the former HoS made startling allegations against the suspended governor, linking him (Fubara) with the bombing of the State House of Assembly Complex, the pipeline explosions and plans to unseat President Bola Tinubu. Funny enough Nwaeke did not speak of the attempt to bomb Presidential Hotel, at the onset of the crisis.
Nwaeke spoke at the Transcorp Hilton Hotel Abuja with background voices instructing him on how to deliver the message. At about the same time, his wife, Florence, who addressed reporters at their Port Harcourt home, raised concerns about her husband’s safety, saying that he couldn’t have said the kind of things credited to him. She alleged that Nwaeke may have spoken under duress.
But, a few hours later, Nwaeke released another video saying he is safe, and accused the Fubara’s camp of having penetrated his wife with false information.
Fubara swiftly reacted by denying Nwaeke’s allegations in the video clip. The governor said it was unlikely that Nwaeke would have been present if he wanted to discuss such sensitive things the HoS alleged, like bombing of the Assembly Complex and the plan to unseat President Tinubu.
But, the HoS immediately countered Fubara in another video clip hours later. Appearing more firm, he maintained that Fubara allegedly sponsored the bombing of the Assembly Complex.
The contradictory statements by Nwaeke and his wife showed that there must be old scores that the parties are trying to settle. Things may go from bad to worse for Fubara, Wike and their supporters. But, stakeholders fear that Fubara may face more challenges, as his adversaries seem to be plotting more damaging actions against him. Forgetting that the suspended governor still retains his constitutional immunity, some of the plots seem to be targeted at arresting his close allies, based on Nwaeke’s modulated revelations.
At the height of the plot are allegations that security operatives and anti-graft agencies may come after Fubara’s Chief of Staff, Edison Ehie. The former HoS accused Ehie of being privy to the demolition of the House of Assembly Complex, as well as funds allegedly misappropriated under Fubara.
The Guardian was told that the drag net may also be extended to other persons that played prominent roles in the Fubara administration. Critical stakeholders in the state said the plot by the anti Fubara camp, is to instigate more crises in the first six months of the State of Emergency to ensure elongation.
There are fears these negative plans are intended to pitch the major ethnic nationalities in Rivers against each other, especially given the attempt by the Ijaw ethnic nationalities, who are mainly pro-Fubara, to inject tribal sentiment into the matter.
Wanted: Containment, rapprochement
President Bola Tinubu has been urged to intervene in the Rivers crisis before it gets out of hand. A legal practitioner, Somari Joseph Ogolo, warned that the development may lead to anarchy in Rivers.
He stated: “A lot of constitutional breaches and threats to peace and security are happening under President Tinubu’s watch, especially relating to Rivers, while Mr. President looks the other way.
“The confessions by the former HoS’s wife, where she raised the alarm that her husband was compelled by the present government to sign a missing N15 billion, indicated that the Sole Administrator, Retired Vice Admiral Ibok-Ete Ibas, is on a sinister mission in Rivers.”
Ogolo wondered what would have led to a phantom N15 billion naira missing or not declared? “Is Ibas appointed to investigate Rivers State Government or to hold brief and resolve the face-off between the executive and the legislator? In less than two weeks, the sole administrator has laid off appointees of government, just as he has also issued several threats to others. It appears there is more to his appointment.”
Ogolo also said the alleged teleguided statement by the erstwhile HoS was aimed at a forcible arrest and prosecution of some persons, who are marked as threats. “It is also aimed to distract the citizens of Rivers and Nigerians from speaking against the unconstitutional appointment of the sole Administrator in Rivers State and to also erode the goodwill enjoyed by Governor Fubara by labelling him as corrupt and evil,” he said.
Questionable style
Since he assumed office, the Sole Administrator has been pulling his cards in a disquieting manner. Barely two weeks after he resumed duty as the helmsman of Rivers, he has been coming up with a fresh twist to the trouble.
Fortnight ago, the Sole Administrator ordered the sacking of all political appointees of Fubara, just as he also directed that those affected should hand over to either a Permanent Secretary or any senior official in their ministries the same day.
The leadership style of Ibas, especially, the gestapo manner in which he sacked some government appointees, immediately he assumed office is already having negative effects on the economy. Over 40 per cent of workers have been dislodged from their offices with a negative economic impact.
Keen political watchers believed that the ultimate end of the game is to demoralise the Fubara’s camp, however some core loyalists of the suspended governor are unrelenting about their tough stand against emergency regime, especially over the way Ibas has sacked appointees of Fubara while those in Wike’s camp are relishing.
A strong pillar of support for Fubara, the ex- Chairman of Obio-Akpor Local Government Area, Chijioke Ihunwo, who was also fingered by Nwaeke on the alleged bombing of the State House of Assembly, said, ” I am not shaken by what is happening in the state, Our support for Fubara is absolute, because he is sincere and also meant well for his people unlike other politicians.”
However, a woman leader from Port Harcourt City Local Government, Pauline Green, warned all stakeholders involved in the current Rivers crisis to bear in mind that the imbroglio is no longer about Wike and Fubara, noting that some strange persons are now trying to take advantage of the situation to exploit the oil rich state.
“It is unfortunate that a stranger is at the top of affairs of the state while the fighters are busy fighting without considering the enormous loss to the state,” she declared.
She also alleged that the entire scenario is a mere plot to drain the treasury of Rivers, especially, at a time Nigeria has become a country where accountability is no more.
A political analyst and former State Commissioner for Information and Communications, Ogbonna Nwuke, also decried the decisions of the Sole Administrator, saying Ibas has become partisan “which is contrary to the assignment Mr. President sent him to do in Rivers State.
“Ibas is supposed to stand in the middle and not be partial in his actions. His actions so far are inimical to the peace of the State.
“The Sole Administrator is here for just six months to supervise the state , it is absurd for him to come to a state he personally described as peaceful and kicked out people who were constitutionally appointed into office, what is his role to dismantle a well established democratic structure in the state, is he on a mission?”
Nwuke therefore urged President Tinubu to caution Ibas. He said with what the Sole Administrator has done so far, “achieving stability and peace in the State may be difficult.”
Nwuke also condemned the claims of corruption and sponsorship of violence made against Fubara by the former HoS. He said such sponsored allegations may worsen the relative peace in Rivers State.
He also appealed that the suspended persons including Governor Fubara, his Deputy and the State Assembly members be reinstated by the President. He said: “Nigeria cannot be practicing democracy while Rivers State is experiencing military rule.
“Before the president acted and declared a State of Emergency under section 305, he was fed with wrong information but by now we are confident that the President must have seen the truth and clear reports about the state. Rivers have been peaceful therefore those suspended, sacked need to be restored while the emergency rule is lifted.”
But, taking a different position, Publicity Secretary of All Progressives Congress (APC) in Rivers, Chibuike Ikenga, said Rivers was under serious tension due to threats of bombing the oil facilities, which necessitated the declaration of a State of Emergency in the first instance.
He also argued that the decisions and actions of the Sole Administrator were apt, stating that suspended Governor Fubara appointed the sacked political office holders and since he (Fubara) is under suspension, the sacked officers cannot lay claim to any office.
“If their boss who appointed them is under suspension, it entails that they were part of the shenanigans that took place within the period under review, so if the governor has been suspended, they also remain suspended pending any further decision on the return of the governor.
“Also, most of the affected persons did not pass through the recommended House of Assembly and hence, they ought to go because the Supreme Court judgment noted that they did not meet with the requirements “So, as a party , we support the decisions and interventions of the Sole Administrator.”
Also insisting that Fubara must be made to respond to the weighty allegations raised by the erstwhile HoS, APC chairman in Rivers State, Chief Tony Okocha, said Fubara and his loyalists, must answer questions over the demolition of the state House of Assembly complex and alleged misappropriation of funds.