President Bola Tinubu, Tuesday, intervened in the crisis in Rivers State, and adequately apportioned blame to the two feuding leaders – Rivers State Governor, Siminalayi Fubara and Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike.
The President, spoke at the inaugural meeting of Nigeria Police Council (NPC) held at State House, Abuja, heprevailed upon by governors present to intervene before the crisis snowballed into a bigger proportion. The Governor of Bauchi State, Senator Bala Mohammed, disclosed this while briefing newsmen on the outcome of the meeting presided by the president at the Council Chambers.
Mohammed said Tinubu engaged both parties in discussions with a view to restoring lasting peace in Rivers State. The president, allegedly, cautioned Fubara to restrain his anger at the unfolding situation in his state, and advised Wike, the immediate past governor of the state, to respect his successor.
On the part of the FCT Minister, Nyesom Wike, he hinted at the root cause of the crisis in Rivers State, he told visiting leaders of ethnic nationalities from Niger Delta, yesterday in Abuja, that he would not allow anyone hijack a political structure he had spent years, even decades, to build. He also cautioned against reading ethnic meaning into the raging feud between him and Fubara, while hosting the leaders, who paid him a solidarity visit.
It is recalled that Twenty-four members of the Rivers State House of Assembly had on Monday attempted to impeach Fubara as governor, resulting in turbulence in the state after the governor’s loyalists stormed the Assembly complex in protest against the plot. It came after the bombing of the state House of Assembly located along Moscow Road in Port Harcourt by suspected arsonists on Sunday, damaging a chamber of the House and several structures. The development was seen largely as a supremacy battle between Wike and his former protégé.
According the President Aide, who spoke on anonymity, said that President Tinubu pointed out that Wike might have assisted Fubara to become the Rivers State governor, but, ultimately, it was God, who made him governor and as such, he must lead the state with the fear of God and be just to all, as he promised to meet with the governor privately for proper briefing on the situation, however, condemned Fubara’s outburst on national television.
Addressing Wike on the other hand, according to the aide, the president said the former Rivers State governor must come to terms with the fact that Fubara had become governor and respect him as the leader of the state. He said respecting the governor and his office would help to reduce tension and stave off unnecessary ill-feelings between them, even among their supporters.
The Leader PDP Governors Forum, Senator Bala Mohammed also told news men the by intervention of the president on the matter today and bringing succour and solace to the people of Rivers and Nigeria, and by making sure that he did not use his big hammer and biro to extricate and emasculate us as opposition – “we find this to be very good and going forward, we pledge that we’re going to work with him to bring good governance to the people of Nigeria.”
Mohammed added, “The meeting urged all parties to the Rivers State crisis to sheathe their sword and resort to peaceful means of resolution. The forum further offers its platform for a quick and just containment of the issues involved.”
