PRESIDENT Bola Tinubu on Thursday night met with the suspended Governor of Rivers State, Siminalayi Fubara, and Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Nyesom Wike, at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
According to reports, the Speaker of the Rivers State House of Assembly, Martins Amaewhule, and members of the Assembly were also at the meeting.
It was gathered that Tinubu reconciled the parties whose feud led to the declaration of a state of emergency on the state by the president on March 18.
The president also suspended the Rivers Assembly. He appointed Ibok Ekwe Ibas, a retired rear admiral, as the state administrator.
Tinubu said the action was taken due to the prolonged crisis between the governor and the state Assembly, which he said threatened the peace in the state.
However, feelers from Thursday’s meeting show that the parties might have sheathed their swords, following the president’s intervention, and there are strong indications that the state of emergency imposed on the state might be edging to an end.
The ICIR reported that Tinubu, in a nationwide broadcast on Tuesday, March 18, imposed a state of emergency on the state, suspending Fubara, his deputy, and all members of the state House of Assembly for six months in the first instance.
Tinubu based his decision on Section 305 of the 1999 Constitution, saying he couldn’t continue to watch the political logjam in the state without any action to address it.
The president’s decision attracted outrage, with many condemning the decision.
Prominent opposition leaders, legal experts, and groups, including Atiku Abubakar, Peter Obi, Rotimi Amaechi, Nasir El-Rufai, Femi Falana, the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), the Labour Party (LP), and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), among others, condemned the action.
Recall that shortly after Fubara took over power, he fell apart with his predecessor and Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Wike.
The crisis has its roots from who controls the political structure of the state between the two leaders.
The People’s Democratic Party (PDP) is the ruling party in the state.
The crisis took a different turn when the Amaewhule-led House of Assembly threatened to impeach Fubara over his alleged failure to implement a Supreme Court ruling on the political situation in the state.
Nearly 90 per cent of the House members are loyal to Wike.
A reporter with the ICIR
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