By Daniel Abia, P/Harcourt
Sir Siminalayi Joseph Fubara is a name that was never mentioned in the political books of Rivers state prior to the 2023 general elections. He had been in the finance sector all his life. But in a desperate search to have a cool-headed governor for Rivers people, the then Governor, Nyesom Wike braced all odds and placed the ticket of the People’s Democratic Party, PDP, on Fubara’s hands without a fight.
From the ticket purchase to the campaign train, Wike shouldered all the responsibilities as if he was actively canvassing for a third term in office. Fubara was relegated to the underground of the political game. He spent no money of his own. He never campaigned.
Election was contested and won. But that was just a phase. In August, 2023, what started on a sweet note began to witness some sour taste over financial issues. While it may be true that Wike’s anger with Fubara was blamed on the usurpation of the former governor’s political structure by his arch opponents under Fubara’s watch, sharing formula of political appointees was the main vector that tore things apart.
The Genesis
Just a few months after Fubara was sworn in as governor, he began to pitch tent with Wike’s political rivals particularly those who supported the PDP presidential candidate in the 2023 general elections, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar. Wike had earlier chased these people to Abuja only to return home when Wike resumed work as minister of the FCT.
The fear of trading off his structure and the disagreement in the sharing formula triggered mutual suspicion between the two political leaders. This snowballed to the formation of the state cabinet with Wike insisting on having all the commissioners and other key appointees nominated by him. While initial 14 of the commissioners came from the minister, Fubara was authorized by his “maker” to nominate only one.
Trouble heightened when Fubara forwarded two nominees to the House of Assembly with Rt. Hon Martins Amaewhule as Speaker for screening that Wike was immediately informed of the development and heaven was literarily let loose. At this point, no party could hold back verbal emission. “Their war of words started from there”, said a source close to the two men.
According to him, the Commissioners never “respected the governor”, adding that “it got to a point where the governor could not make approval exceeding N30million without authorization from Abuja”. Unbearably frustrated, Fubara told those who could listen to him that rather than tolerate such despicability, he would resign as governor. Several nocturnal meetings were held to save the embarrassing situation both in Nigeria and outside the country. It only went from bad to worse.
The cloud of war became thickened when on October 29, 2023, the Dome edifice of the House of Assembly on Moscow road was riddled with dynamite. And the next day, October 30th the complex was mercilessly demolished on the allegation that it had some “structural defects”.
Well, it soon became exposed that through intelligence, the Governor was informed, rightly or wrongly, that there was a grand plot to commence an impeachment process on him the next day. With that information, the Governor stormed the complex in the early hour of the morning to supervise the display of bulldozers on the walls of the blue and white color structure.
Sensing that the two gladiators in the political fight were not willing to back down and knowing the politico-economic importance of Rivers state, President Bola Tinubu reached out to them for a possible truce. The crisis did not deescalate despite the President’s intervention.
With the principal actors returning to trenches, Fubara found his cabinet depleted as the Wike’s loyal commissioners resigned their appointments in droves. It was then it dawned on the governor to withdraw Dr. Edison Ehie who by then had become the Speaker of the House of Assembly and made him his Chief of staff. The appointment of Ehie as the chief of staff was a strategic maneuver to seal the gap through which government sensitive information was leaked to the minister. Edison Ehie was replaced as a speaker in the House by Rt. Hon Victor Oko-Jumbo with only three men to form a new House.
This happened when 27 lawmakers loyal to the FCT Minister, Nyesom Wike also chose to toe the path of the commissioners by announcing their defection from the PDP to the APC, haven deposed to an affidavit in the federal High court, Abuja. And on December, 2023, Chief Tony Okocha, Abdulkarim Kana. Legal adviser of the APC and other national leaders of the APC officially received them at the Port Harcourt polo club.
The battle became more intense when Wike realized that Fubara was gaining more support across Nigeria with groups and privileged Nigerians volunteering support to the governor. In the course of that, the House of Assembly was operating on a parallel basis with Amaewhule leading the 26 belligerents lawmakers while Oko-Jumbo piloted the Fubara backed Assembly with only four men.
LG Polls
In a desperate push to consolidate his grip on the political soul of the state, Fubara through the instrumentality of the Rivers state independent electoral commission, RSIEC, conducted a local government election on October 5, 2024. In view of the injunction against the PDP, the governor could not field any PDP candidates for the election even as he did not vote in the exercise.
In a smart move, Fubara used the court in Rivers state to sweep out Wike’s loyalists in the 23 local government councils and instructed his men to join the Action people party, APP, with all of them winning the entire LGAs. This infuriated Wike the more and the battle only escalated.
Judicial Bias
When the battle shifted to the court, it turned out that any case that had to do with the governor, he won in all the courts in the state. On the other hand, Wike was always winning in any case that went to Abuja. For instance, it was the state High court that gave a judgment that Fubara could present the 2024 budget to a 4-man House of Assembly.
It was also the state court that gave the authorization that government could spend the budget as far as it was for the betterment of the Rivers people. It was equally the state court that pronounced that the 27 lawmakers had defected and that the Governor was at liberty to transact government business with the Oko-Jumbo led House.
Wike on his part was always certain of legal victory in Abuja. The minister was too sure of what he wanted and did not hide it from anybody that he would get justice from the Supreme Court when the chips were down. He did.
Supreme Court
The climax of the political crisis that had dragged on for close to two years was finally defined and settled on February 18, 2025. It was the day the Supreme Court ruled on four consolidated cases brought before it and the whole four went against Fubara.
The state allocation was stopped. He was ordered to re-present the 2025 budget before Martins Amaewhule among other decisions that triggered a wide range condemnation even by right standing lawyers across the country.
Most condemned was the fact that the defection case of the 27 lawmakers which was never brought before the Apex Court found its way into the certified true copy, CTC, of the judgment. This development made people to wonder if that was an independent judgment or an afterthought to appease some gods.
Emergency Rule
To many Rivers people and millions of Nigerians, the Supreme Court judgment became a fuel that energized the 27 lawmakers. Barely 24 hours after the judgment, the Assembly issued a 48-hour ultimatum to Fubara to present the budget. Few days after, they issued another 48-hour ultimatum to the Governor to forward fresh list of commissioners for screening and sack the 19 commissioners who were never screened by the House.
Less than a week, the Amaewhule Assembly served the governor and his deputy with letters of gross misconduct and was set for a probe. Not done, the House called on the department of security service, DSS, to investigate alleged age falsification by the Chief Judge of the state, Justice Simeon Amadi.
Before this time, a warrant of arrest was issued on the Chairman of the state independent commission, RSIEC, Justice Adolphus Enebeli, rtd. Events happened in quick succession which gave everybody including the governor the understanding that he was getting to the dark end of his political career.
Final Nail
Shockingly, on Tuesday, March 18, exactly one month after the Supreme Court judgment, President Bola Tinubu announced a state of emergency in Rivers state by suspending the governor, his deputy and the House of Assembly. The proclamation has brought to an end, albeit, temporarily the raging political fire in the Rivers state.
The post Wike/Fubara Feud: How the war began appeared first on Vanguard News.
