By Emmanuel Aziken
Just two years after producing a miraculous sprint at the finish line to win Rivers State in the 2023 presidential election, the camp of President Bola Tinubu has commenced the race for 2027, opposition elements are alleging.
The imposition of a state of emergency with the suspension of Governor Simi Fubara is central to the plot to push Tinubu ahead in the 2027 contest, according to his critics. That claim is, however, countered by insiders in Tinubu’s camp who allege a plot by Fubara to fund the opposition to Tinubu towards the 2027 presidential election.
Whatever, both supporters and critics of the state of emergency insinuate money and politics as critical elements for the imposition of the state of emergency.
The huge pile of cash available to Rivers State both from the Federation Account and from internally generated sources, it is believed, is the pursuit of the political actors now scambling for Rivers State.
Sunday Vanguard reports that governors of Rivers State have, since the advent of the Fourth Republic, been fingered in funding presidential election campaigns either for themselves or for their associates.
Former Governor Peter Odili, just before the 2007 presidential primary of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, had so much muscled himself into the leading aspirant with support across the country.
Indeed, by the eve of the PDP presidential primary, the Odili Campaign had reportedly taken over all the major hotels in Abuja ready to move in delegates until top officials of the Olusegun Obasanjo administration descended on him.
Rt. Hon. Rotimi Amaechi, at the end of his two terms as governor, did not go for the ultimate prize, but allegedly backed General Muhammadu Buhari (rtd) who eventually won the ticket and the main election.
Mr Nyesom Wike, who succeeded Amaechi, went for the prize himself and lost the PDP ticket mainly because of the gang-up between then-Governor Aminu Tambuwal of Sokoto State and former Vice President Atiku Abubakar.
He subsequently went on to back Asiwaju Bola Tinubu who won the election.
Control
So, ahead of the 2027 elections, eyes had turned towards Rivers with the prospects of having the political actors in control of the state play a role in funding the 2027 election.
Though Fubara, who is in the PDP, had, at various times, declared his support for a second term for Tinubu, his unceremonious fallout with his political godfather, Wike, had put him under suspicion.
The suspicion was further fueled by what some alleged to be intelligence linking Fubara to the opposition to Tinubu in 2027.
However, a source close to Atiku, one of the leading opposition leaders, flatly claimed ignorance of such a claim.
Tinubu had, in justifying the decision on emergency rule, accused Fubara of sympathizing with militants and others who had become passionate in their support for the governor.
The action was inevitably triggered by two bomb blasts that occurred on Monday and on Tuesday.
Decision
Sunday Vanguard gathered that the decision to impose a state of emergency had, however, been taken for some time and was a fact known to a few presidential aides and associates of a very powerful minister with interests in Rivers State.
“Sometime is going to happen very soon before the end of next week,” one of them was heard saying the week before.
However, pushing through the idea of the state of emergency was one that even administration officials knew was not going to be an easy task.
It was especially so given the fact that Tinubu had, in the past, actually opposed state of emergency when the Goodluck Jonathan administration declared same in three North-East states of Adamawa, Borno and Yobe.
However, for those determined to get rid of Fubara, nothing was especially too much to sacrifice to achieve the aim.
Sunday Vanguard reports that Abuja has been saturated with allegations of lawmakers being compromised with loads of money in foreign currency for the purpose of winning support.
Lawmakers have been quoted as claiming that they got the kind of money that they could not reject.
Opportunity
According to some critics, the ongoing Muslim fast became an opportunity for the President of the Senate, Senator Godswill Akpabio, to mobilise senators.
The Tuesday the proclamation was made, Akpabio had gathered senators to break the Islamic fast with him.
Sources claimed that as they left, they allegedly received $5,000 each.
The following day, Wednesday, on the eve of the consideration of the fast, the senators who also came to break fast were allegedly packaged with $10,000 each.
However, Akpabio’s spokesman, Hon Eseme Eyiboh, strongly denied the claims telling Sunday Vanguard that the rumour was another bid by critics of the Senate President to tarnish his image.
“On the issue of the dollars, he is giving the money for what? I am aware of the breaking of the fast but I can tell you I am not aware and it is not true of the dollars, whether $5,000 or $10,000, people are just conjuring it to be able to give flavour to their malice and hate campaign”, Eyiboh said.
“People are just conjuring the story of the $5,000, $10,000 to add flavour to their malice and hate campaign. He has been doing it. He did it last year, so why is this one associated with money”.
Fallouts
Whatever, the fallouts of the controversies surrounding the passage of the proclamation has put two Labour Party senators who partook in the breaking of fast under the spotlight.
Senator Victor Umeh, who had in the past defended some of the controversial actions of the Senate under Akpabio, and Senator Neda Imasuen, Chairman of the Senate Committee on Ethics and Public Petition, are two senators in Labour Party that have now come under the spotlight.
The two, who are Christians, are being asked to explain their presence at the breaking of the Islamic fast hosted by Akpabio for Muslim senators.
The two have been challenged to name any other Labour senator that was present.
Engr. Chukwuebuka Ekpechi, speaking on behalf of Concerned Anambra Central Stakeholders, while putting their senator to task over his presence at the Muslim breaking of fast at the Senate President’s Guest House in Maitama, Abuja, said: “Let Senator Victor Umeh, who has admitted that he went to IFTAR PRAYER (breaking of Fasting for Muslims) to pray for peace in Rivers … mention the names of other Labour Party senators present at Senate President’s Guest House on Tuesday night where he said his ‘prayer’.
“He should be free to mention their names as he claimed that other Labour Party senators were present on Tuesday.”
Sunday Vanguard reports that a number of other Labour Party senators are miffed by the alleged attempt by Umeh to associate other Labour Party senators as having been present at the breaking of fast at Akpabio’s Guest House where alleged mobilisation for passing the state of emergency proclamation was said to have been done.
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