A Quest for Peace in Rivers

With the recent judgment of the Supreme Court on the Rivers State political crisis, all parties should step back and allow peace to prevail in the interest of the state, Wale Igbintade writes

For Rivers State, last week was one full of dramas over the political crisis rocking the state. First, the 27 members of the Rivers State House of Assembly rejected the crucial meeting initiated by Governor Siminalayi Fubara for reconciliation. The lawmakers, who are loyal to the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, cited procedural irregularities in the invitation for their decision.

Fubara, through the Secretary to the State Government (SSG), Dr. Tammy Danagogo, had sent the invitation letter with Ref. No. GO/SSG/ADM/125/72 of March 7, 2025 and titled: ‘Meeting Between the Governor of Rivers State and the Honourable Members of the Rivers State House of Assembly,’ to the Speaker of the assembly, Hon. Martin Amaewhule, scheduled for Monday, March 10 at the Governor’s Office in Port Harcourt.

However, speaking on behalf of the 27 lawmakers, Hon. Isaiah Opuende, who represents Akuku-Toru Constituency 2, criticised the governor for allegedly inviting them through social media. He recalled that when the political crisis began, their principal had warned that a time would come for both sides to go their separate ways.

He also questioned the mode of invitation transmission, arguing that it was not feasible for lawmakers to honour the governor’s request. 

Apparently mocking the governor’s approach, Opuende said: “It is time for us to determine our ‘dey.’ When your ‘dey’ started, our principal said the time for details of your ‘dey’ would come. Now, your ‘dey’ has come.”

“How can you write a letter to the House of Assembly and put it on social media and expect us to come? The governor should write to us the proper way,” he said.

The scheduled meeting came on the heels of the recent judgment of the Supreme Court, which barred the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), the Accountant General of the Federation and other agencies from releasing funds to the government of Rivers State until it purges itself of what the court describes as flagrant disobedience to court orders.

In a judgment delivered by Justice Emmanuel Akomaye, the five-man panel of the court unanimously dismissed Fubara’s cross-appeal, which challenged the validity of the House of Assembly presided over by Amaewhule. 

The court ordered Amaewhule to immediately resume sitting with other elected members of the Rivers State House of Assembly.

The court held that it was an aberration for Fubara to have purportedly presented an appropriation bill before a four-man House of Assembly, thereby denying 27 constituencies of effective representation in flagrant violation of a court order mandating him (Fubara) to re-present the 2024 appropriation bill before a validly constituted assembly led by Amaewhule.

The Amaewhule-led lawmakers, seeing the judgment in their favour, have been emboldened to hold the executive arm of government to ransom.

After receiving the Certified True Copy (CTC) of the judgment, the governor instructed the Secretary to the State Government (SSG), Danagogo, to invite the lawmakers for a reconciliation meeting, but they declined the invitation.

Tensions, however, escalated when the lawmakers demanded that the governor present the 2025 budget and set a deadline for him to dismiss commissioners and board members who had not been screened by the House. Additionally, they summoned the Chairman of the Rivers State Independent Electoral Commission (RSIEC) to appear before them.

During plenary, assembly, presided over by Amaewhule, unanimously agreed for the arrest warrant on Chairman of RSIEC, Justice Enebeli (rtd) and four of his commissioners. They said the arrest warrant followed the expiration of the 72-hour ultimatum given to them to appear before the assembly.

The lawmakers suggested that the governor had possibly missed an opportunity for possible negotiations. 

They referenced a previous letter from the House of Assembly, which could have reopened dialogue between the legislative and executive arms of government. 

They accused the governor of engaging in “hide and seek” tactics, which they considered inappropriate and unnecessary, especially when the focus should be on achieving peace in the state.

The lawmakers explained that Monday’s date for the meeting had already been slated for a plenary session with the chairman of RSIEC and his commissioners, a sitting they considered a priority for the legislature.

However, when the governor decided to visit the lawmakers last Wednesday, another drama ensued at the assembly quarters as the entrance gate was locked. 

It was gathered that the security personnel at the quarters upon sighting the governor’s convoy hurriedly locked the gates. 

The action of the security personnel, it was learnt was hinged on the position that there was no official communication between the governor and the lawmakers.

However, Fubara said he had personally communicated his coming to Amaewhule through a letter and tried to call him on the phone since Tuesday.

To further humiliate Governor Fubara and worsen the crisis, by Friday, the Amaewhule-led assembly adjourned sittings indefinitely even they knew that he had written to them that he would visit them by Wednesday, March 19 to represent the 2025 Budget.

Amid the controversy of the shunning of the governor’s invitation by the lawmakers, the factional APC chairman, Mr. Tony Okocha, who is a staunch loyalist of Wike, advised the governor to resign or be impeached.

Also, at a media parley in Abuja last Wednesday, Wike gave a subtle approval for the governor’s impeachment, saying the heaven would not fall if the assembly impeaches the governor for alleged impeachable offences including withholding their salaries for months, adding that the governor brought it upon himself.

He said: “If you have committed an offence to be impeached, what’s wrong? Is it a criminal offence? It’s provided in the constitution. Am I a member of the Assembly? If you have committed an infraction of the constitution and the Assembly deems it fit to say, you should be impeached.

 “I have heard people say: ‘Oh, if they impeach him, there will be a breakdown of law and order’. Rubbish! Nothing will happen.”

The minister said if the Amaewhule-led assembly wasn’t disposed to peace, the assembly would have gone on a six-month recess after the Supreme Court verdict. He criticised the letter written to the assembly by Fubara, saying he should have done better.

The FCT minister criticised the governor for writing to the assembly, stating that he should have called Amaewhule and his team to arrange a meeting.

Describing the letter from Fubara as “useless”, he said: “You have had a frosty relationship with an arm of government. If you are a good politician, would you go and write a letter? Is it by writing a letter signed by the SSG? What an insult! Is it how it is done? If you are a politician, you know what to do. You want to play to the gallery which is rubbish. All these letters are useless. You are not sincere, you are playing to the gallery. If you write a letter to the assembly, won’t you wait for a response? That’s what I’m telling you. Sincerely. As soon as you play to the gallery… he has carried television people along.”

Many believe that it is rhetoric like this that is emboldening the lawmakers to be humiliating the governor.

While they said they were not begrudging Amaewhule and his colleagues for asserting themselves, their method may end up frustrating governance in the state.

Those who spoke to THISDAY advised that they should tone down for the sake of peace in the state. 

It’s important for both sides to find common ground to resolve their crisis in the interest of the state and its people. 

A full-blown conflict will only worsen the already tense situation in the state.

Fubara is not the first to toe this line. His predecessor, Wike, upon assuming office in 2015, governed the state with just seven lawmakers. He also dissolved the existing local government executives and appointed caretaker committees without opposition.

With the lawmakers drawing the battle line, it’s the people and residents of Rivers who will suffer the consequences of breakdown of governance.

Rivers remains one of the most strategic states in the federation.

A troubled Rivers State will further harm the nation’s economy. For the sake of the people, it’s hoped that all the political gladiators in the state will sheathe their swords and give peace a chance. 

Fortunately, following President Bola Tinubu’s counsel for Fubara to stoop to conquer, the governor said his administration was ready to implement the judgment of the apex court.

For instance, speaking again during the inauguration of the new judges’ quarters in Port Harcourt on Tuesday, the governor said his administration would obey the judgment for the good of Rivers residents. He insisted that no price was too much to pay for the peace of the state, stating that the crisis had cost the parties a lot of resources that could have been deployed to the good of the state.

“The Supreme Court has given a judgment; my administration will implement the judgment to its fullest. The reason is clear; it is not about me, it is about the good of this state,” he said.

 Nothing is therefore, expected in the state at this juncture than peace.