The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Siminalayi Fubara

  • Fubara’s Chief of Staff slams Nwaeke, Channels TV with N2bn libel suit

    Fubara’s Chief of Staff slams Nwaeke, Channels TV with N2bn libel suit

    Dr. Edison Ehie, the Chief of Staff to the suspended Rivers state governor, Siminalayi Fubara, has filed a N2bn libel suit at the state High Court sitting in Port Harcourt against the immediate past Rivers Head of Service (HoS), Dr. George Nwaeke and Channels Incorporated Limited.

    Ehie initiated the litigation following the recent allegations of Nwaeke televised by Channels that he was the mastermind of the inferno that engulfed and destroyed the Rivers State House of Assembly Complex among others.

    Ehie in the suit is praying the court to award him N2bn as general damages saying that the defendants on March 29th without cause or occasion made the allegations thereby seriously injuring his credit, character and reputation.

    He said the publication by the defendants brought him into public scandal, odium, contempt of his person, character and integrity and lowered him in the estimation of right-thinking members of the public and society.

    He described the said publication as false and most disparaging of his person to the knowledge and understanding on the defendants.

    Ehie future prayed the court for a perpetual injunction restraining the defendants forthwith either by themselves, agents, privies, workers or however from further publication or from further publishing or from further continuing to publish or circulating either to the general public or to any manner of persons, howsoever the said malicious and libelous document subject matter of the suit and or such similar documents concerning the person of the claimant.

    Read Also: Rivers crisis: Nwaeke has vindicated us, says APC

    He asked the court to issue “an order for immediate retraction of the said publication and an apology to the claimant by the defendants for the said invidious and libelous publication forthwith and same to be widely publicized in the second defendant’s (Channels TV) television network, another television network and two newspapers with nationwide leadership in Nigeria.

    The court presided over by Dr. Jumbo Stephens, had already issued an order of substituted on the defendants.

    The judge granted Ehie the leave to serve the originating and other processes in the suit on the first defendant (George Nwaeke) by pasting same at the entrance of his residence at No 10 Olumeni Street, Old GRA, Port Harcourt.

    The judge also ordered that the originating processes should be served on Nwaeke via publication in a daily newspaper having nationwide circulation including Abuja, FCT.

    The judge adjourned the matter to the 10th of April 2025 for proof of service.

  • Rivers: Between flawed federalism and fragile democracy

    Rivers: Between flawed federalism and fragile democracy

    President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s recent declaration of a state of emergency in Rivers State and the appointment of Vice Admiral Ibok-Ette Ibas (rtd) as Sole Administrator, following the suspension of all elected officials, has sparked controversy, NTAKOBONG OTONGARAN examines the issues involved

    The crisis in Rivers State cannot be divorced from the power tussle between Governor Siminalayi Fubara and his predecessor in office and Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike. The latter was the state’s governor from 2015 to 2023. He handpicked Fubara as his successor in 2023, expecting a loyal echo. Instead, the protégé rebelled, igniting a feud that spiraled into chaos. Fubara and Wike belong to the ruling People’s Democratic Party (PDP) in the oil-rich state.

    Indications that all is not well between the two political actors emerged in October 2023 when 27 lawmakers loyal to Wike purportedly defected to the ruling party at the centre, the All Progressives Congress (APC), and subsequently threatened to impeach Governor Fubara over fiscal defiance. Three months after, Fubara’s faction, with four rival lawmakers, allegedly demolished the assembly complex following an explosion. It was ostensibly to prevent the lawmakers opposed to the governor from sitting and making good their threat.

    The climax came on March 17-18, 2025, when militants struck the Trans Niger Pipeline and Soku oil facility, which generates about $14 million daily to the country’s purse; a development which prompted Tinubu to act by suspending Governor Fubara, his depty, Mrs Ngozi Odu and all members of the Rivers State House of Assembly. These developments came after the Supreme Court ruled on the crisis, reinstating the 27 lawmakers and decrying the absence of a functional government as Fubara flouted their budget mandate.

    Speaking on the matter, a political analyst, Peter Aka, blamed a “corrupt electoral system” for the crisis. Another commentator, Jerry Chukwueke, echoed this sentiment emphasizing Rivers’ strategic importance to the nation. He said, “It’s not just politics—it’s national security.”

    Observers blame the degeneration of the crisis on the nature of the country’s federal structure and the weak institutions that were supposed to act as checks and balances within the polity. Realist theorists, drawing from the stern pragmatism of Thomas Hobbes and the cunning of Niccolò Machiavelli, view the state as a Leviathan tasked with imposing order amid fragility. In Nigeria—a nation stitched together by ethnic diversity, resource conflicts, and faltering institutions—this perspective casts emergency powers as a necessary shield against collapse.

    Prof. Claude Ake, in his seminal Democracy and Development in Africa (1996), argued that African states often prioritize survival over democratic ideals when faced with existential threats.

    Rivers State is no ordinary patch of land—it’s an economic jugular, pumping 40 per cent of Nigeria’s crude oil, the lifeblood sustaining a nation of over 200 million. The pipeline bombings and governance paralysis, realists contend, are not mere local squabbles but tremors threatening national stability, justifying President Tinubu’s intervention as a sovereign act to restore order.

    Read Also: Tinubu deserves second term in 2027 — LP Senator Imasuen declares

    Jerry Chukwueke, a public policy analyst and former advisor to the Imo State Governor, embodies this realist stance with a fervour that cuts through the noise. He declared: “Rivers stands apart—it’s a strategic linchpin. We’re talking about massive investments in hydrocarbon infrastructure—export pipelines, storage facilities, crude production.

    “If Nigeria is to repay $15 billion in forward-sale debts accumulated over years, supply crude to local refineries like Dangote’s, and earn dollars to keep the exchange rate from spiraling into chaos, the president has no choice but to act decisively.”

    Chukwueke framed the crisis as an “existential threat” to Nigeria’s one-dimensional economy, brushing aside constitutional debates with a pointed question: “What’s the alternative when oil theft and vandalism imperil the only resource keeping us afloat?”

    For realists, the appointment of Vice Admiral Ibokette Ibas (rtd) as sole administrator is not a “power grab” but a bulwark, a necessary measure to protect the nation’s economic heartbeat.

    However, critics argue this pragmatism risks legitimizing a perpetual executive dominance, a shadow that has loomed over Nigeria since its military past, threatening to trade democratic vitality for a brittle, enforced peace.

    As expressed in the philosophies of John Locke and Montesquieu, the two other arms of government, the judiciary and the legislature, are institutions that are expected to act as checks and balances to the power of the executive in a liberal democracy. The voice of the people, as expressed during periodic elections, is also part of the checks and balances to the power of the executive.

    However, in Nigeria, such institutions are weak and often yield to executive fiat rather than stand as guardians of democratic checks and balances. In the Rivers saga, this lens casts President Tinubu’s emergency decree as a rupture in the constitutional fabric, a move that sidesteps the very mechanisms meant to preserve governance by consent.

    Afam Osigwe, President of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), articulated this critique with a clarity that reverberated through legal circles. He said: “Let’s examine the foundation of this emergency. Two explosions tearing through pipelines and a political feud between a governor and his former mentor—these are the threads the president has spun into his justification.

    “But turn to Section 305, subsection 2, and you’ll find a far loftier threshold: war rending the nation’s seams, invasions breaching its borders, or a collapse so profound it shatters the state’s bedrock. What we have in Rivers is a storm. But it is leagues away from the cataclysm the law demands.”

    Osigwe added: “The suspension of Fubara, his deputy, and the assembly is a manoeuvre that finds no sanctuary within our legal framework, no matter how you bend the text. Look to Section 11, subsection 4, and you’ll see a steadfast barrier, explicitly denying the National Assembly any authority to oust a governor during an emergency.

    “Turn to Section 188, and you’ll search its provisions in vain for any whisper that a state of emergency justifies stripping an elected official of their mandate. This isn’t a gray area—it’s a transgression against the democratic edifice we’ve vowed to uphold, a breach that echoes through our legal heritage.”

    Osigwe painted President Tinubu’s haste—24 hours from blasts to decree—as a reckless lunge. He said: “Like swinging a sledgehammer at your skull to ease a nagging headache.”

    He called for Fubara’s restoration, saying, “He should still be steering Rivers through this tempest—the Sole Administrator’s oath is an alien artifact, unrecognized by our Constitution.”

    Itse Sagay, a constitutional lawyer, has long warned that “emergency powers must not decapitate democracy,” a sentiment bolstered by the Supreme Court’s February 28 ruling ordering legislative function in Rivers.

    Femi Falana (SAN) notes that President Tinubu chose suspension over enforcement, a pivot he labeled a precedent for “executive override at will”. Similarly, Peter Obi called it “reckless,” a cry echoed by liberal theorists who see institutional erosion.

    PDP governors and the nonprofit, nonpartisan, legal and advocacy group, the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP), have filed lawsuits to pursue the matter in court. Osigwe foresees a Supreme Court showdown. “This will test the very bones of our democracy,” he said.

    The spectre of authoritarian drift, drawing from Max Weber’s bureaucratic dominance and Carl Schmitt’s state-of-exception, casts a darker shadow over Rivers. This lens sees emergencies as gateways to tyranny, where crisis becomes a pretext for executive overreach, echoing Nigeria’s military-era decrees—like Decree 2 of 1984 under Buhari, which Tinubu once resisted.

    Wole Soyinka, in his work, The Open Sore of a Continent (1996), cautioned against Nigeria’s slide into “dictatorship by stealth”, a warning that resonates as Ibas, a military figure, rules without a constitutional oath—Osigwe dubbing it “an alien artifact haunting legitimacy’s corridors”.

    Ibas’ recent dissolution of the state cabinet and Council of Traditional Rulers deepens this unease, prompting Yakubu Maikyau, former NBA chairman, to call it an “aberration”, with Yiaga Africa warning of “democratic backsliding”.

    Olusegun Obasanjo’s 2004 suspension of Plateau State’s Governor Joshua Dariye, a gambit later denounced as unconstitutional, looms as a spectral reminder, its ghost whispering of past overreaches that echo into the present.

    Nigeria’s federalism, as Eghosa Osaghae argued in Crippled Giant (1998), promises state autonomy, a vow strained by colonial centralization and ethnic diversity. In Rivers, this lens frames the emergency as a federal assault on that promise, with Ijaw leader Benjamin Okaba declaring on March 20, “This is 1962 redux—a death knell for our self-governance.”

    Okaba sees Wike’s Ikwerre influence and Tinubu’s Yoruba base tilting against Fubara’s Ijaw-led PDP, a power play masked as necessity. Falana blames the 1999 Constitution. He describes the constitution as a “unitary relic,” ill-equipped for such tensions.

    The Ijaw Youth Council (IYC) warns of renewed militancy if the situation persists. The IYC fears were stoked by an incident witnessed on March 19, when Ogoni youths blocked Aba Road in Port Harcourt and set tires ablaze, shouting, “Tinubu, hands off!”

    Federalism’s lens probes: Is this economic salvation or ethnic domination? Chukwueke’s call for a “reset”—“a chance to calm all sides”—clashes with Okaba’s dread of lost autonomy, a fracture Nigeria’s federal pact struggles to bridge.

    As Rivers State navigates the uncharted waters of emergency rule, Nigeria stands at a pivotal juncture, its democratic future hanging in a delicate balance. Will President Tinubu’s decree forge a stable tomorrow, or will it unravel the threads of a democracy already frayed? For Rivers and beyond, the road remains uncertain—stability’s allure wrestling with liberty’s cost.

  • Rivers Emergency: Fubara misses the point

    Rivers Emergency: Fubara misses the point

    Suspended Rivers State governor Siminalayi Fubara has continued to act and speak as though he voluntarily stepped down from office for a few days or weeks. He needs to be reminded that he has been duly suspended for six months in the first instance with the backing of the constitution, partly because he was central to the state’s multidimensional political crisis. He had been pressured by former governor Nyesom Wike since 2023, barely three months after he assumed office, but his predecessor had limited himself to talking up a storm. On the contrary, Mr Fubara had been actively engaged in acting the storm. The rhetorician could of course not be suspended, for he was not the one who directly governs the state; that punishment was reserved for the habitué of the storm, the governor himself.

    Last week, this column argued that Mr Fubara was actively undermining the Supreme Court judgement which ordered him to take certain actions to align governance in the state with the law and the constitution. He was unwilling to heed the judgement, believing that he had more support than he actually did, and could create events and circumstances potent enough to tie the hands of the federal government while he gets away with murder. His actions and words, not to talk of his feints as well as the provisions of the constitution, led this column to support the proclamation of a state of emergency in Rivers. The column also warned that if he hoped to return to office, he would need the circumspection he had been incapable of showing. Alas, Mr Fubara and his moribund administration may be too far gone to be salvaged. His suspension is for six months in the first instance; it may last for much longer, assuming he does not talk himself into jail as he seems bent on doing.

    The suspended governor denies the allegation of sponsoring militants to blow up crude oil pipelines, an action that tantamount to levying war against the country; but he has been unable to deconstruct his statement to youths at a public function in Port Harcourt to wait for instructions over the political impasse in the state, particularly after the House of Assembly renewed their impeachment plans against him and his deputy. The federal government was not fooled. Next, Mr Fubara was at Yenagoa, Bayelsa State, where he and his supporters tried to rally the Ijaw to his side, thereby attempting to paint the Rivers crisis in ethnic colours. Then, as if playing a script, he attended a church in Port Harcourt to demonstrate he was unfazed by the whole tumult. He obviously hopes that he and his supporters can rally the state, neighbouring states, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) or a faction of it, and possible the rest of the antagonistic public and country to defeat the presidency and end or shorten the state of emergency.

    Read Also: From Lagos to Aso Rock: Tinubu’s transformation of Nigeria’s political landscape

    By now, even his diehard supporters must be having second thoughts. Like everyone else, they have had enough time to study the constitution and come to some tentative conclusions indicating that the proclamation of a state of emergency in Rivers was in line with the constitution. The constitution may be silent on a number of things, including suspending governors and legislatures, but no matter how the document is read and interpreted, it is hard not to agree with the proclamation. Mr Fubara was the problem; he allowed the pressures on him by external bodies to expose the beast in him, leading him to compromise governance and predispose the state to violence of unimaginable magnitude. So far, there is nothing about him that enables him to reflect on what went wrong, what he didn’t do right, and how best he could have managed the crisis. He believes he has managed to deflect public anger to his sworn enemy, Mr Wike, and successfully covered his own appalling lack of judgement, not to say apocalyptic predilection for violence and mayhem. He still goes about thinking he can produce a violent endgame for the federal administration from the Rivers imbroglio.

    In all this, Mr Fubara does not seem to realise he is in exile. That he has not been leaned on by the security services is an acknowledgement by the federal government that all efforts must be geared towards retaining a semblance of democratic governance in Rivers. Ideally, since there cannot be two heads of state or sheriffs in a polity, one must leave town. But the government has indulged him by turning a blind eye to his nomadic escapades and posturing. But their exasperations may start to show soon. He has refused to keep silent and appears ready to defend himself at every turn, even if he must lie in the process. Since he has chosen to be imprudent and sanctimonious, it may be time for the government to open the books of his dealings over the burnt and demolished House of Assembly buildings, and perhaps too his not-so-hidden fraternisation with militants during which he forgot himself and acted like he was not governor of Rivers. He appears impervious to learning, and he does not seem to recognise that he is in the wilderness. A time in the wilderness calls for deep reflections and study, the rebuilding of reputation, and finding the formula to control his moods and mollify his unnatural rage.

    Mr Fubara is an accountant, and there are indications he is a competent professional. That makes him a numbers man, and most numbers men, as everyone knows, cannot be trusted to philosophically outthink their opponents. They may toy with mathematical scenarios, and be adept at jigsaw arithmetic puzzles, but they are often incapable of projecting the nuances of leadership that deal with the nexus between politics, economics and society. What the Rivers crisis has revealed is a governor unable to rationally respond to complex pressures from enemies or the blandishments of friends. He hated one with a passion, and succumbed to the other with amateurish glee. With a chaotic mind seething with mischief, it is unclear whether he can appreciate that his time in the wilderness, an affliction as it were, affords him the opportunity for soul cleansing. He needs to calmly analyse his predicament, and find answers to the political puzzles that have projected him as a neophyte. Despite the tons of advice given him by many state elders and columnists on how to respond to the situation that assails him, it appears sadly unlikely that he possesses both the gumption and the willingness to make amends. He will continue to talk nineteen to the dozen, obfuscate as much as possible, twist stories and tell tall ones with proactive and effective propaganda, and continue fighting without knowing how to stop.

    From all indications, the state of emergency in Rivers State will last a full six months, with the distinct possibility of an extension. The security services have let Mr Fubara run riot with plots since last year, and he has not relented. While, the House of Assembly has sensibly kept silent, and Mr Wike, whether pleased with the state of emergency or not, has let off only muted groans, the suspended governor has not let bad enough alone, as the Americans say. He has managed to get embroiled in another bitter and needless controversy with the former Rivers State Head of Service, George Nwaeke, in which again he has demonstrated a galling lack of capacity to measure his words and tame his emotions. Convinced that the public seemed to be on his side, and certain in his mind that he has enough time to make the emergency proclamation difficult to manage, he has engaged in public demonstrations of show of confidence and imperturbability. A faction of the PDP and a few leaders of the Labour Party as well as haters of the Tinubu administration have viewed the whole brouhaha from the partisan angle, in the same depressing manner top political leaders are embracing ill-mannered youths disseminating rant campaigns or truth-or-dare contests on social media. The whole environment is being badly and irretrievably polluted.

    The federal government and its security agencies should earn their pay by intelligently responding to the many subtle and multifaceted existential threats facing the country. Too many law breakers have been indulged in the name of democracy, including those advocating revolutions to overthrow the same constitution whose protection they feel entitled to. Because of the spontaneous fury that erupts on social media, mostly anchored on ignorance of the socio-economic and political conditions the new administration inherited in 2023, the government has been reluctant to clamp down on lawbreakers. No thanks to the social media, the country is today teetering on the brink. And no thanks to a warped and fearful interpretation of what democracy connotes in these parts, discipline is breaking down, and politicians like Mr Fubara as well as men, women and youths of all classes and persuasions are taking advantage of what they sense is the government’s weakness and timidity. Rivers State sole administrator, Ibok-Ete Ibas, a retired naval admiral, may not have time to probe the suspended governor, but he needs to invite him to shed light on some of the discrepancies clearly evident in his administrations dealings. If Mr Fubara likes to talk, including directly intimidating the wife of the former Head of Service through a phone call, they should give him matters to ponder. After all, for the next six months, he does not have immunity. But he can also contest that in court, as his supporters are futilely contesting the proclamation of a state of emergency.

  • Nwaeke lying against me, says Fubara

    Nwaeke lying against me, says Fubara

    Suspended Rivers Governor Siminalayi Fubara, has denied the  allegations levelled against him by the immediate past Head of Service, Dr. George Nwaeke.

    The Governor in a counter statement said: “Ordinarily, I would not have responded to his claims, but to correct the erroneous impression such allegations may create in the minds of the people, and the disaffection it is bound to cause in the state and the country.

    “First, on the claim that he was aware of my discussions and plans to support Bala Mohammed’s alleged 2027 presidential bid, it is laughable that Dr. Nwaeke would be part of any high level political meeting as Head of Service, much more sitting in my alleged night meetings with Bala Mohammed and militants like he claimed. Howbeit, none of such meetings ever held.

    “The truth is that the whole world knew when the Bauchi State Governor, as Chairman of Peoples Democratic Party Governors Forum visited the State, and there was nothing secret about the visits.

    Read Also: Igali stresses significance of Nigeria- Iran partnership for wrestling

    “It is also ludicrous for Dr. Nwaeke to claim that he was aware of my meetings to encourage attacks on oil pipelines and other National assets in the State, as there was no time I held any meeting with militants or any criminal group to destabilise the State. It is on record that I have been at the forefront preaching peace in the State even in the face of obvious provocations.

    “The truth is that Dr. Nwaeke has been compromised, and whatever he is saying is only aimed at fulfilling his promise to those who may have paid or coerced him to lie against me. 

    “I call on all well meaning Nigerians and the good people of Rivers State to disregard everything said by Dr. Nwaeke as they are mere desperate attempts to discredit me and my administration, and undermine the peace process by Mr. President.”

  • Suspension of Fubara, Assembly unconventional, by SAN

    Suspension of Fubara, Assembly unconventional, by SAN

    A Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), Babatunde Fashanu, has described the six months suspension of the Rivers State Governor, Siminalayi Fubara as unconstitutional and illegal.

    Fashanu  argued that section 305 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria,  1999, under which the President claimed to act does not give him that power to suspend the governor and the state assembly.

    He said there are other sections of the Constitution that deal with the tenure and removal of a Governor being Sections 180, 181, 188, 189 and191.

    According to him, “Section 305 of the Constitution only deals with proclamation of state of emergency which can be done with the governor in place. 

    Read Also: I have no link to any militant group, says Fubara

    “Even the proclamation of a state of emergency is subject to the issuing of a Gazette to that effect and approval by the NASS within two days since it is in session. 

    “Sacking the Rivers State House of Assembly (a State Legislature) by the President is worse being a flagrant infringement of the separation of powers in the constitution or where is it in section 305 or anywhere in the constitution that the president can do that?’

    Fashanu contended that what the President has done is bad politics by taking sides in a family matter through illegal means.

    “What has happened does not augur well for Nigerian democracy and economy having regard to Rivers State being a major oil producing State with potential minuses for the already over-sapped common man”, he added.

  • JUST IN: Fubara makes first public appearance after suspension 

    JUST IN: Fubara makes first public appearance after suspension 

    Suspended Rivers State Governor Siminalayi Fubara made his first public appearance on Sunday following his suspension from office.

    Fubara was spotted at Salvation Ministry, Port Harcourt, where he worships, putting to rest speculations about his whereabouts. 

    Read Also: Nigeria’s first charity ball targets N150bn for IDPs, refugees

    He was welcomed by a senior pastor, who ushered him into the church to join the service.

    The governor arrived with a modest convoy, notably without the official flag or seal of the governor’s office.

    Details shortly…

  • State of emergency in Rivers: matters arising

    State of emergency in Rivers: matters arising

    By Tiko Okoye

    I just watched a television programme where Several callers a guest claimed that Suspension & Removal mean the same thing as they have same effect. This fallacious! A popular advert says “If e no be Panadol, e no fit be like Panadol.” So, while both may connote “removal” in simple English, suspension is temporary – for a period of time, while impeachment is permanent – a point of no -return.

    Which is why someone intoned that Governor Siminalayi Fubara and his supporters should be actually grateful to President Bola Tinubu for gifting him an opportunity to run away and fight another day, unlike if the House had impeached him.

    Several callers referred to then-President Goodluck Jonathan’s declaration of State of emergence in three NE states of Adamawa, Borno and Yobe, in which the political structures were left intact.

    The reality is that Presidents take such weighty decisions based on the nature of intel and security reports at their disposal. Jonathan might’ve received reports that showed that although the security situation was dire and worrisome, it still hadn’t reached the stage for the declaration of emergency.

    The reality, again, is that Tinubu could be privy to a different set of Intel and security reports, and should in no way, shape or form allow his hands to be tied by what a predecessor had done when the buck stops at his desk.

    Besides, such critics unmask themselves as acting in bad faith by failing to mention the cases of Ekiti and Plateau States where then-President Olusegun Obasanjo declared a state of emergency and suspended the executives and legislators for six months.

    Isn’t what’s good for the goose no longer sauce for the gander? Let’s rid ourselves of selective amnesia.

    Condemnations by several eminent personalities, such as former-VP Atiku Abubakar, and organisations, such as the PDP and PANDEF, have been fast and furious. They say the action is politically motivated and unconstitutional.

    While they are encouraged to head to court to deepen our laws and democratic ethos on the validity or otherwise of the presidential declaration, one wonders what major actions that politicians prosecute that are not overtly or covertly politically motivated.

    But they ought to be ashamed for dropping the ball. An African adage posits that it is unheard-of for elders to be fiddling while a pregnant she-goat is left alone to battle with the task of giving birth, with the umbilical cord positioned to fatally strangle the kid.

    How come someone like Atiku with all his years in the political arena, coupled with the position he occupies in the PDP as a two-time presidential flag bearer – and itching to go a third time on the PDP platform – was idling even as a key state controlled by his party was on the boil?

    If Atiku couldn’t resolve the problem in a state where his party held the reins of power, why does he think Nigerians will entrust him to solve our onerous nationwide challenges?

    Read Also: Visa Inc. to establish data centre in Nigeria, strengthening digital economy

    And by the way, Nigerians are still wondering why the one-man riot squad called Nyesom Wike has become a tree that’s greater than the PDP forest.

    Which is not to accept, as many critics and wailers are demanding, that a sense of justice and equity will be concretised by President Tinubu suspending the FCT Minister as Gov Fubara was suspended, given the clear case of “two fighting.”

    Truth is that as much as one may hate Wike for his political choices and manoeuvres, he is not a party in any of the cases either decided or still subsisting in the courts.

    One can clearly feel his hands and influence but he’s still a ghost, and the Nigerian Constitution and Jurisprudence haven’t yet evolved a legal process to adjudicate cases in which ghosts or magical spirits are involved.

    Like MKO Abiola was wont to quip: “It is impossible for a barber to cut a customer’s hair in his absence.”

    PANDEF reportedly issued a press statement, within 24 hours of the presidential declaration, expressing “profound shock.” The germane question they should answer is why they never expressed any shock – profound or otherwise – when unknown persons blew up oil pipelines in Ogoni land about two days earlier.

    The obvious interpretation is the leaders greenlighted the treasonable action it was a way to bring pressure to bear on any person’s seeking to remove Fubara from office. Well, as the axiomatic saying goes, “We must be very careful of what we wish for.”

    It’s unproductive and unhelpful for opponents of the presidential declaration to start shedding bucketfuls of crocodile tears after the deed has been done. Like most reasonable Nigerians, they also read the handwriting on the wall.

    But instead of being honest brokers of a truce between the contending parties they were satisfied with milking state financial resources from the beleaguered Fubara and misinterpreting judicial decisions.

    My closing comment is reserved for the suspended Gov. Fubara. Aside faulting Fubara for arrogantly refusing to stop for Wike in order to conquer, I can categorically declare without fear or favour that his miscues and missteps clearly indicate the gross naivety of a civil servant thrust into the shark-infested waters of politics.

    Fubara woefully failed the leadership test, and proved that his man-management skills are practically zero.

    For crying out loud, Fubara isn’t the first Governor – and won’t be the last either – to part ways with his political godfather shortly after taking office.

    But it speaks volumes of their predisposition to mischief-making that none of the former governors, who successfully passed through the needle’s eye that a camel was still struggling to enter, deemed it necessary to make their experience available to Fubara; rather they were simply wishing to leverage his inevitable fall to discomfit President Tinubu.

    I’ve two such former governors in mind. Then-Anambra State Gov. Peter Obi was an APGA man, but 27 out of the 31 members of the House of Assembly belonged to the PDP.

    It was tough-going for Obi at the beginning, but before anyone could shout “NEXT,” he had successfully managed to SUBTLY “convert” practically every PDP legislator to the APGA fold. 

    Former-Edo State Gov. Godwin Obaseki also went into the lion’s den and tamed the wild beasts like the Biblical Daniel. He even had a steeper slope to climb because his estranged political godfather had become the APC national chairman, and was openly saying that Obaseki would be denied a return ticket.

    Obaseki consequently defected to the PDP but not before orchestrating Oshiomhole’s sacking from his exalted party post! Obaseki was reelected on the PDP ticket and faced another major hurdle: More than two-thirds of the state legislators were not only APC members, but they were also Oshio Baba’s chorus men!

    Obaseki not only demolished the House of Assembly in a bid to prevent legislators from meeting to impeach him, but he also refused to swear in incoming APC members throughout the duration of his second term to avoid any cantankerous opposition.

    Fortunately for Obaseki, the loathing then-President Buhari and his kitchen cabinet had for Tinubu and Oshiomhole – who was sacked for being perceived to be receptive to Tinubu’s presidential ambition – meant that Aso Villa gave Obaseki an open cheque to do whatever he pleased with “Oshiomhole’s faction” of Edo APC, based on the doctrine of “The enemy of my enemy is my friend”!

    Fubara could’ve danced out of the quandary in which he found himself by either emulating the Obi subtle approach or the Obaseki brusque nzogbu-nzogbu way.

    By deciding to take on an I-no-go-agree battling ram like Wike within his first 100 days – rather than beginning of a second term – and doing so without first orchestrating the conversion of pro-Wike legislators, exposed Fubara’s lack of strategic acumen.

    The outcomes of success were just as gargantuan as those of failure. He should therefore have moved heaven and earth to – as godfather Don Corleone was wont to quip – “make them an offer they couldn’t refuse”! And this was a relatively easy task to accomplish as executive governor of “The Treasure Base of the Nation”!

    Sanctimonious preachments are uncalled for here given the realities of Nigeria’s political culture, as the monies he kept doling out to emergency PR consultants and spokespersons as well as social media “constitutional experts” amounted to a king’s ransom.

    Which is hoping he covered his tracks pretty well, as EFCC agents and the Sole Administrator are going to be on the lookout for any financial shenanigans during the six-month suspension (just gave him ‘expo’).

    Weep not for Fubara because he knew exactly what he was getting into with his eyes wide open. It is unethical to want to move the goal post or arbitrarily change the rules when the game is already going on.

    I love giving this analogy: Mr A had a deep craving to quickly get rich by any means necessary. He met a cultist or herbalist with a storied pedigree along that line. They struck an agreement with the cultist only obtaining a guarantee that, like all other of his clients, Mr A must donate his mother to be sacrificed after he’s made it – a kind of Cash on Delivery!

    Mr A made it big time, but he started playing games when it came time to keep his own end of the bargain, by seeking to turn the tide of public opinion against the cultist.

    And members of the public, because of a grudge they had against the cultist, took sides and started demanding a pound of the flesh of the cultist, without questioning why Mr A is involving them close to the expiry of the “agreement, when he never brought them in at the onset when he was negotiating the terms and conditions.

    It would’ve been far better for them to ask Mr A to comply with the agreement he entered into with the cultist out of his own volition because it is the only way to enthrone responsibility and accountability in the polity.

    As an addendum, I wonder if the advice former-Ekiti Gov. Fayose gave to Fubara on the day of his oath-taking can bo considered as prophetic or poignantly accurate. Fayose, who was once suspended by OBJ, told Fubara not to bite the fingers that fed him very early in his tenure.

    His exact words were: “I know Wike o! If you look for his trouble, he’s ready to fight you from here to hell and back. Don’t poke your eyes into areas you shouldn’t or see what you’re not meant to see, else – and I’m very sincerely warning you – you will start seeing spirits!” Hmmmm…

  • Unease in Rivers as Fubara, lawmakers fail to meet

    Unease in Rivers as Fubara, lawmakers fail to meet

    There is still no love lost between Rivers State Governor Siminalayi Fubara and the lawmakers.

    The expectation of a meeting between the governor and the lawmakers that would have broken a truce failed to hold.

    The governor on Sunday sent a letter signed by Secretary the State Government Tammy Danagogo to the lawmakers for yesterday’s meeting. But the lawmakers failed to honour it.

    Although, they held a plenary yesterday, the lawmakers did not speak on why they declined the invitation.

    A principal official of the Assembly, who attended the plenary but spoke in confidence, said the lawmakers treated the invitation as a non-issue that required no attention.

    “There was not time the lawmakers discussed anything like the governor’s invitation. They treated it as a non-issue”, he said.

    But Commissioner for Information and Communications, Joe Johnson, said the governor looked forward to the meeting with excitement, but had to continue with other programme for the day after waiting for two hours.

    Justifying the botched meeting, he said: :Even the President invites members of the National Assembly to discuss and resolve issues and governors also do the same. I don’t know why they turn this to another thing”.

    During plenary, the Assembly resolved to issue a warrant of arrest on the Rivers State Independent Electoral Commission (RISIEC ), Justice Adolphus Enebeli, following his failure to honour the invitations of the lawmakers.

    Although the Assembly had given the electoral chief a 48-hour ultimatum to appear before the lawmakers, it was extended to a 72 hours last Friday. The ultimatum expired yesterday.

    Apparently to forestall his appearance, Enebeli had dragged the House of Assembly to the state High Court in Port Harcourt challenging his summon by the lawmakers.

    The RISIEC boss and his commissioners were asked to appear at the Assembly to explain the circumstances that surrounded the conduct of the 2024 local government elections, which were nullified recently by the Supreme Court.

    The lawmakers  also wanted the electoral agency to explain the sources of funding for the council polls and where they intended to raise the funds for the elections scheduled for August 9.

    The House Leader, Major Jack, who observed the conspicuous absence of Enebeli, frowned at his  flagrant refusal to honour the invitations.

    Jack read the relevant paragraphs of Sections 129 of the 1999 Constitution, as amended, emphasising the powers of the Assembly to compel Enebeli to appear before it.

    Other lawmakers also condemned the attitude of the retired judge and his commissioners, describing it as abysmal.

    Speaker Matins Amaewhule frowned at a situation where those, who appeared before the House for screening and confirmation when they were seeking appointments, later chose to treat the summons with levity.

    He said the Assembly was empowered by Section128 of the Constitution to conduct investigation within its legislative competence.

    He insisted that Justice Enebeli and his cohorts must be arrested and  brought to the House for questioning on the public funds they spent in the guise of local government elections.

    After the Speaker called for a vote, the lawmakers unanimously voted that  a warrant of arrest be issued on Enebeli and his commissioners.

    However, before the vote, the lawmakers acknowledged the presence of three former RISIEC commissioners, who recently resigned their appointments, citing the Supreme Court’s judgment.

    The ex-commissioners – Lazbery Nnah, Prof. Simeon Weli and Mrs.  Ibierembo Thompson – were grilled by the lawmakers on their various roles in RISIEC during the elections.

    While Nnah and Weli tendered their resignations letters on March 7, Mrs. Thompson’s resignation became public knowledge on Monday.

    Yesterday, three Bills; the Rivers State House of Assembly (Powers and Privileges) Bill, 2025, the Rivers State Independent Electoral Commission (RSIEC) Bill, 2025, and the Rivers State Local Government Bill, 2025 – passed through the First Reading in the House.

    Miffed by the non-implementation of the apex court judgment, the All Progressives Congress (APC) gave a 48-hour ultimatum to the governor to comply with the verdict.

    Fubara to supporters: be peaceful

    Fubara urged his supporters to be calm, assuring that inspite of the political logjam, his administration would emerge stronger.

    The governor discouraged his supporters from engaging in any form of violence, urging them to embrace peace.

    Fubara spoke at the inauguration of the Palace of Nyeweali Akpor Kingdom, Eze Levi Amos Oriebe, built by the administration at Ozuoba in Obi/Akpor Local Government Area on Monday.

    He urged his supporters and other residents to cheer up, saying that God would not allow his administration to be truncated half-way.

    Fubara said in a statement by his Chief Press Secretary (CPS), Nelson Chukwudi, that the ungodly motive of those planning to disrupt governance by worsening the political relationship would collapse.

    He said: “I want to say to our teeming supporters. I know some of you; your spirits are high, some of you, your spirits are low. But, I want to assure you one important fact of life: God does not start a thing and end halfway.

    “It doesn’t matter what the situation might be today. I assure you that we will come up again stronger and better. Continue to follow my footstep, and that footstep remains the path of peace. We need it because if anything happens, we are the greatest losers.

    “Our concern for this state is not because of our own profit, but the total well-being of Rivers State. So, I appeal to everyone of you: be law abiding. I will not encourage any act of disobedience or any act of violence. But that is not to say that we will support evil. We will never support evil.”

    Fubara said his administration is focused on good governance, adding that he would not renege on the promise of delivering impactful, people-oriented development projects.

    The special guest, King Chike A. A. Worlu Wodo, Eze Oha Apara, Chairman of Rivers State Council of Traditional Rulers, who commissioned the project, recalled that his own palace in Apara Kingdom was built by the same government a few months ago.

    George sues for peace

    Former Governor Rufus Ada Geroge, who spoke at the ceremony, also called for peace.

    He also urged  all parties involved in the crisis to immediately stop all threats, inflammatory statements, ultimatums and exercise restraint in their pronouncements to avoid escalating the  tension.

    He said: “We must draw lessons from history, particularly from the then 1962 Western Regional crisis  as  recently emphasised by one prominent citizen of that area. Avoidable crises of this nature, if not swiftly and fairly handled, may have far-reaching consequences, not just in Rivers State, but on the entire nation. We cannot afford to degenerate into such a crisis again.

    “Although the Supreme Court has rendered its verdict, there is still room for humane and pragmatic decisions to be made. These can help alleviate the adverse consequences of the ruling on the people.”

    “Already, the flashy lights are increasing by the day with the pronounced withholding of monthly allocations to the state. The end product and anger are being visibly seen on the faces of the ordinary man on the street”.

    George said the parties should constantly cultivate compromise, adding that even in the most tensed and war-torn regions, compromise had proven to be a powerful tool for resolving conflicts and fostering peace.

    Resign or be impeached, APC tells Fubara

    The Rivers APC said Fubara should resign or be prepared for impeachment for not implementing the Supreme Court judgement 

    Read Also: Nigeria, UAE set to discuss visa issues, says minister

    The chairman, Tony Okocha, described the governor’s nvitation to the lawmakers as a Greek Gift.

    Okocha recalled how Fubara had disrespected President Ahmed Tinubu when he intervened in the crisis, adding that he has also abused court judgements with impunity.

    He said: “The invitation to the lawmakers is a Greek Gift. The Supreme Court Judgement is final. There is nothing anybody can do about it. The only option available to the governor now is for him to resign or be impeached.”

    He added: “My response to the Greek gift the governor is attempting to extend to the 27 Lawmakers is that, it is not within the ambits of the law and its already belated.”

    “It is stupidity that made Nza (small specie of bird), to challenge his chi (god), to a fight. We have always told the governor that if he brings insect infested firewood to his house, he has literally invited lizards to a feast.”

    Okocha not speaking for APC, says Beke

    But, Emeka Beke, who claimed to be Rivers APC chairman, said Okocha only spoke for himself and not the party.

    He said in a statement: “I wish to inform the general public that Tony Okocha is not a known member of the party and is neither eligible nor qualified to speak for and on behalf of the party. Therefore, the APC calls on the good people of Rivers State to disregard the baseless call for the resignation of the governor by Tony Okocha, who is a known enemy of the state and a crisis merchant.”

    Beke warned Okocha to desist from parading himself as the APC chairman in Rivers State, describing his actions as a public nuisance.

    He added: “As a party, we are committed to supporting good governance and are happy that the governor of Rivers State, His Excellency Siminalayi Joseph Fubara, has rescued the state from the act of executive rascality, ceaseless abuse of our established cherished traditional institution, and gross mismanagement of the state’s monthly statutory allocation.

    “He has demonstrated that accountability and transparency are the cornerstones of good governance.”

    Beke also rejected the call for impeachment, sàying that such matters are governed by constitutional provisions and procedures, not by individuals making unfounded statements to the media.

    He said: “Tony Okocha should learn that the issue of impeachment is a constitutional matter, with well-enacted provisions and procedures, and not something an individual will wake up and begin to address the media about.”

  • Supreme Court and Fubara V. Wike

    Supreme Court and Fubara V. Wike

    As far as the legal aspect of the political discord in Rivers State is concerned, the Supreme Court on February 28 closed the chapter with a hint of exasperation. Whether it concerns the status of the Martins Amaewhule-led House of Assembly or the tangential but nevertheless consequential issue of the validity of the October 5, 2024 local government election, Governor Siminalayi Fubara has been left flummoxed. Even though Nigerians were divided along two main partisan lines on the Rivers crisis, and took their likes and dislikes, and logic and illogic, from each side of the divide, last Friday’s Supreme Court judgement was nevertheless anticipated and unavoidable. The governor, every astute reporter and columnist knew, had no chance at all of winning. The court’s conclusion was that Speaker Amaewhule and his 26 lawmakers defected by word of mouth, it seemed, not in the eyes of the law; and a hurting and uncalculating Mr Fubara had rushed the local government election in order to seize the high ground from his nemesis and former mentor, Nyesom Wike. To lose abominably in one of the two major arguments that became the fulcrum of the state’s politics since Mr Fubara fell out with his predecessor and Federal Capital Territory (FCT) minister is unsettling. To lose in both arguments is unmitigated disaster. But to the governor, political arguments are neither won nor lost by half measures. He thus managed to lose on both sides, and did it spectacularly and, as the court reasoned, unequivocally.

    There is still a solitary and obviously dismal case at the Federal High Court in Port Harcourt involving the status of the 27 lawmakers filed by the Fubara camp. Until the Supreme Court broke the camel’s back on February 28, the governor reposed some hope in the Port Harcourt court to judge the matter in his favour. Now, even that hope is forlorn. The Federal High Court in question had deferred the case of the alleged defection of the lawmakers when it was brought to its notice that the Supreme Court might be making a pronouncement on the same issue. To expect the lower court to decide the same case with a different outcome is to stretch hope to its inelastic limit. All doors are now shut against Mr Fubara whom adverse situation evidently compels to change tack and produce the highest degree of ingenuity, patience, and tactics. He never seemed capable of demonstrating any of those virtues, and seemed to play scorched-earth politics that harks back to a medieval era. But today he must find those virtues and embrace them if he is not to perish politically. He needs help from some of the country’s best counsellors, but he seems to rely only on his instincts, instincts that have propelled and then betrayed him from one crisis to another, and from one blunder to another. An example of his instinctive approach to politics, especially when dealing with an enemy as implacable as Mr Wike, was his nudging of the Rivers State Independent Electoral Commission (RSIEC) to hold LG election on August 9 even before he and his team had read and digested the judgement.

    Read Also: Nigeria earned N13.78tr from crude oil in Q4 2024

    The Wike-Amaewhule camp has not displayed inspiring political astuteness of any kind, but it has, perhaps undeservingly, enjoyed the most clement of political weathers. He and his loyal 26 lawmakers announced their defection to the All Progressives Congress (APC) quite alright, but the governor’s impatience and tactlessness caused them to retrace their steps before they gave legal or constitutional effect to their blunder. By ordering another LG election for August even before he has had the opportunity to study the Supreme Court judgement and reflect on its import, it is clear that Mr Fubara is either reluctant to or incapable of changing tack. He seems bent on self-destruction. Though he matches the Wike camp in displaying triumphalism over the most tentative of political victories, he has not enjoyed any lasting and soothing relief of any kind, either through political solutions moderated by President Bola Tinubu or judicial mediation orchestrated by the courts. To halt the dangerous pirouette of serial failures and fragile victories in which he seems locked, the governor needs a team of uncommon and inspired advisers to help him at least checkmate the rampaging Wike army. Yet, achieving victory after so many failed attacks against the opposing camp appears quite farfetched; the best he can do is achieve a stalemate. But even that stalemate now seems endangered by his unreflective statements and frantic measures.

    Rivers State needs to move forward beyond the tit for tat that typifies the Fubara and Wike relationship. In the giddy early months of the Fubara revolt, before the courts put paid to their clumsy manoeuvres, the state’s elders unfortunately pitched their tents with such mercantilist gusto and total lack of circumspection that they became an embarrassment to the peace process. Their challenge in Rivers, going forward, is how to find the men and philosophy to achieve some kind of peace at least in the interim on a scale that allows for some tranquility and development. They do not have those kind of men, nor the arcane philosophy capable of penetrating their ignorance. For all his posturing, Mr Wike remains angry, impulsive and self-righteous to the point that no advice can seem to get through to him. He festoons his politics with religion, in the same egregious manner like Mr Fubara does; but it is doubtful whether God sides with individuals so mean-spirited and so unrelenting. Indeed, Mr Wike has never accepted responsibility for foisting an unprepared and unqualified successor, and he has carried on as if the governor is entirely to blame for the chaos enveloping the state.

    Mr Fubara has tried unsuccessfully to frame the conflict in the state as one between a forward-looking new governor and an exhausted godfather who stifles and overwhelms his successor, and won’t let him breathe. No, the conflict is a little bit more nuanced than that. It is about two men who can’t seem to find the wisdom and the nobility to navigate through their mistakes and their grandstanding. There is in fact no determining the precedence between the governor’s childish political insurgency and the ignoble and sometimes classless responses of the former governor. One throws tantrums, the other whines in hyperbole. The Supreme Court judgement of two Fridays ago provides an opportunity for the two men to reflect on their fumbles, assuming that Mr Wike and his men can be less triumphal, and Mr Fubara can restrain himself from digging deeper into the quagmire. So far, nothing suggests both men have the capacity or the altruism to take advantage of the court judgement to forge a new beginning for the state they hypocritically claim to love.

    Hon. Amaewhule has been a competent, principled and reliable fighter, and an intelligent person to boot; but he stunned everyone last week when he gave the governor an ill-considered 48-hour ultimatum to represent the state’s 2025 budget. Did he expect the governor to base his decisions on newspaper reports of the court case? Mr Wike needs to prevail on the 27 victorious lawmakers to moderate their stand and approach the smouldering crisis with some class and nobility. But if the former governor cannot find the maturity to douse his own fiery and sanctimonious approach to politics, how can he be trusted to give leadership to the House of Assembly? Nor does it even make sense to expect him to give the lawmakers leadership. In fact, he has no constitutional elbow room to give any kind of leadership to the House of Assembly. He has since late 2023 been obtruding and irreverent, when he should be subtle and magisterial. Whether they have what it takes or not, Mr Wike and his men should go and look for what it takes to manage a state from wherever they can find the subtlety. The country is tired of their self-righteousness, their unending and brutal political and legal battles, and their vexatious impeachment threats. No wonder the Fubara camp has begun another round of foolish litigations to buy time.

    As for the unprepossessing governor, who seems even far more flawed than his enemies, and whose mind continuously seethes with practically every wrong motive, it is time to calm down and use his head instead of his disquieted mind. He has not surrounded himself with the right men, not to say wise elders with requisite experience, and he has shown no inclination to listen to the voice of reason. He has spoken silly threats about ‘giving instructions to youths awaiting his message’, some of whom have already threatened to blow up crude oil pipelines on his behalf. And he gets the naïve impression that those egging him on to more revolt well after the court processes have all but ended are the real patriots. This is incomparable nonsense. If he is wise, he should recognise the face of defeat. More, he must also recognise that it is time to make peace, no matter how tenuous, and palliate his arch enemies no matter how unappeasable. If he cannot get a second term, let him at least try to have a memorable one term.

  • Rivers: Jungle don mature

    Rivers: Jungle don mature

    A local government council cannot be governed or administered by the Federal Government, state government, governor of a state, local government caretaker committee, administrator, head of local government or by whatever name called or by any other state agency or other body. The government of a local government area other than by a democratically-elected council is not in accordance with the 1999 Constitution

    – Supreme Court verdict on local government autonomy

    Nothing… shall preclude a House of Assembly from making laws with respect to election to a local government council in addition to but not inconsistent with any made by the National Assembly – The Constitution

    The Supreme Court’s verdict on Friday on the Rivers political impasse touched on many issues ranging from the legality of the state’s 2025 budget, to its allocations from the Federation Account, to the conduct of the last local government election, as well as the status of the Martin Amaewhule-led 27 lawmakers and the executive council (EXCO) as presently constituted, albeit tangentially.

    Though, the court did not specifically make any pronouncements on the propriety or otherwise of the EXCO peopled mainly by commissioners that must be screened and cleared by a duly-comprised House of Assembly, its non-recognition of the Victor Oko-Jumbo-led three-man assembly that confirmed them has made the positions they occupy illegal.

    Despite the court’s unambiguous orders, these commissioners are still parading themselves in office as well as speaking on the judgment. It is the fashion these days for governors and their lieutenants to treat court orders with contempt. With the aid of their lawyers, who are mostly Senior Advocates of Nigeria (SAN), they pick and choose which court orders to obey. They only see good in the judgements that favour them.

    When they do not, the judge or judges must be corrupt and the losing party goes to town, again supported by these senior lawyers to run down the judiciary. Since the Supreme Court put him in his place on Friday, Governor Siminalayi Fubara has not been himself. He is not happy with the verdict and he is not hiding it. When he first spoke on the judgment on Sunday, he grudgingly promised to comply with the far-reaching orders therein, which he said he did not agree with.

    Really, he does not have to agree with the verdict in toto before complying with it – so far he does so fully. There is nothing like partial compliance with court orders. It is either you comply or you do not and face the consequences of your action, which is imprisonment for contempt, no matter the status of the contemnor.

    Pretending to be complying with the judgment, he directed the local government chairmen who were elected last October 5, in defiance of a high court order, to hand over to the heads of their councils. The Supreme Court frowns at such arrangements and the governor cannot claim to be unaware of what the highest court in the land said in the local government autonomy case (See the top of this piece) in which his state was well represented by his attorney-general whose office is no longer tenable in view of last Friday’s decision.

    Since he facilitated their election, the council chiefs complied promptly. I was not surprised. The puppeteer was only pulling the strings of his puppets. Since the apex court has sacked the council chiefs, they needed no prompting by the governor or any other person for that matter before packing their bags and go. Fubara claims he is obeying the apex court. What kind of obedience is that when he is, in the same breathe, flouting the same court’s order that only a democratically-elected government can run a local government area?

    Last July 10, the court as per Justice Emmanuel Agim, in the lead judgment, held that it is unconstitutional to have undemocratically-elected governments at that level. Under the cover of obeying one order, Fubara is deliberately disobeying another one because he does not want to deal with the 27 lawmakers that the court told him to represent the 2025 budget to. But for how long will he continue to bury his head in the sand like ostrich? The governor should stop deceiving himself.

    Nigeria can earn $2.5billion annually from trades with Morocco – Abbas

    If he does not know, he should hear it now that the market is over. To borrow the famous words which he uttered while swearing in his Attorney-General and Commissioner of Justice last year: Jungle don mature, while threatening to probe the immediate past administration of his now estranged godfather, Nyesom Wike. I am not gloating over Fubara’s fate, but the truth is that he is the architect of his own problems. He can boast all he likes while talking in public, but he should not forget that he has become more vulnerable than ever.

    The truth is he is now at the mercy of the Amaewhule-led assembly which on Monday gave him 48 hours to present the 2025 budget as directed by the apex court. This was the same thing the President asked him to do when the First Citizen intervened in the initial stages of this crisis. Who knows, the crisis would have been long settled and forgotten by now, if he did.

    But based on bad advice, he demurred, claiming that he was “ambushed” to sign the presidential peace pact. Which is better: that missed political solution or this judicial lashing? Let nobody weep for Fubara. He may take all the time in the world to apply for the certified true copy (CTC) of the judgment, but the lawmakers do not owe him a duty to wait for him.

    The governor is not in a position to dictate what he wants to do or does not want to do. He is alone in the crowd of his commissioners (can they still be called that?) and other aides that surround him. They know that the party is over and one by one, they will start jumping ship so that he goes down alone, if he remains recalcitrant. Fubara can still salvage the situation if he manages things well as he is at his political nadir.

    Present (or represent) the 2025 budget, dissolve his EXCO and send a fresh list of nominees to Amaewhule and co., and allow them to work out the modalities for a fresh local government poll. These things should not be too hard for him. All he needs to do is to eat the humble pie. If he decides to play smart, he risks impeachment. His ominous statement on Monday that to “leave office is the worse that will happen to me” does not have to come to pass, and only him can prevent that from happening.

    Whatever may be his choice, Fubara should not misadvise others, especially the gullible youths of his state. What does he mean by the statement: “to our youths be strong, don’t be perturbed. At the right time, you will get instructions”. What instructions? I hope he is not planning something sinister. Well, the security agencies are not sleeping.

    LAST WORD: I had finished writing and sent in this piece when reports filtered in that Fubara won’t honour the assembly’s ultimatum. The choice is his. May I remind him of the saying: “As you make your bed, so you shall lie on it”.