THE Rivers State Governor, Siminalayi Fubara, said on Monday, May 6, that some of his commissioners were working against him.
Fubara also decried how the state House of Assembly had been working at variance with his government.
He threatened that the House members could cease to exist as state lawmakers if he so wished.
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Fubara said these when he received a group of Bayelsa State political and traditional leaders who was in Port Harcourt, the state capital, to seek a resolution to the political unrest in the state and better ties between the two states.
The delegation comprised traditional rulers, former commissioners, state and National Assembly members, Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) officials, and Alfred Diete-Spiff, the first military governor of the defunct Rivers State.
Fubara told the delegation, led by the former Governor of Bayelsa State and senator representing Bayelsa West, Henry Seriake Dickson, that he had shown restraint since the crisis escalated in the state.
He said that despite state powers he could deploy to achieve his aim, he had continued acting as the big brother in the face of intimidation and unwarranted attacks.
“We might have our division, but I believe that one day, we could also come together. It has gotten to a time when I have to make a statement that they are not existing.
“Their existence is me allowing them to exist. If I de-recognise them, they are nowhere. I want you to see the sacrifice I have made in allowing peace to reign in our state,” Fubara stated.
He said he had tried to end the enmity between the state legislators and executive but that the crisis masqueraded to another each time he thought he had conquered it.
Fubara acknowledged the roles some political figures, particularly his predecessor and Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, played in his ascent to the governorship but stated that such efforts wouldn’t cause him to idolise a man.
He explained that God could use anybody to achieve His purpose in a man’s life.
In addition, Fubara bemoaned the way some of his commissioners were working against him.
The ICIR reports that many of Fubara’s commissioners he claimed were working against him are Wike’s loyalists. Some of them served in the former governor’s administration.
Wike and Fubara have been at loggerheads over who controls the PDP structure and other issues in the state.
Though a PDP member, Wike currently serves in the ruling All Progressives Congress’ (APC) government.
Following the hostility between the two leaders, 26 members of the River State House of Assembly members decamped from the PDP to APC in 2023, shortly after assuming office.
The feud had degenerated into nearly a physical combat between their loyalists and a possible chaos was palpable in the state that President Tinubu had to intervene twice before tempers were calmed.
However, camps of both leaders have continued to threaten a showdown with each other less than a year that the leaders were gambolling in the same political space.
Again, House of Assembly overrode the state governor, enacted the state procurement amendment bill
Meanwhil, the state House of Assembly again overrode Fubara on Monday and enacted the state Procurement Amendment Bill.
The bill was passed at the House plenary.
The decision indicates that the feud between Fubara and the House of Assembly has yet to be over.
During the session, the House Speaker, Martin Amaewhule, accused Fubara of financial recklessness. He said the governor spent state funds without appropriation.
The deputy speaker, Dumle Maol, requested that his colleagues veto the governor by amending the state’s public procurement laws.
The Rivers State Public Procurement Amendment Bill 2024 was passed on second reading.
The act was the most recent in the hostility between Fubara and the Assembly.
On Friday, March 22, the Assembly overrode Fubara and enacted the Rivers State House of Assembly (RSHA) Service Commission Law.
In April, the Rivers State House of Assembly vetoed Fubara and enacted an amendment to the Rivers State Local Government Law.
Other bills that became law after Fubara declined to sign them include the Rivers State Traditional Rulers Amendment Law, the Rivers State Advertisement and Use of State-Owned Property Prohibition Repeal Law, and the Rivers State Funds Management and Financial Autonomy Law.
A reporter with the ICIR
A Journalist with a niche for quality and a promoter of good governance