There is a growing optimism that the 6-month state of emergency imposed on Rivers State by President Bola Tinubu could be lifted before its terminal date of September 18, 2025.
This is informed by the president’s brokering of a truce between the key actors in the protracted political crisis in the state.
At a closed-door meeting late Thursday night, Tinubu reconciled suspended governor, Siminalayi Fubara and the minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike.
The meeting held at the Presidential Villa in Abuja was attended by the Speaker Martins Amaewhule and other suspended members of the Rivers State House of Assembly.
Addressing State House correspondents after the reconciliation talks, Wike, who handed over power to Fubara, said all parties had agreed to bury their differences and work together as members of the same political family.
The peace deal was celebrated by both the supporters of Wike and Fubara, who declared that peace had returned to Rivers.
Speaking with LEADERSHIP Weekend in Port Harcourt yesterday, the chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and a core loyalist of Wike, Chief Tony Okocha, said the parties had agreed to the peace pact brokered by Tinubu.
Okocha, who was a part of the meeting, said, “Peace has returned to Rivers State. All the parties agreed to some of the resolutions reached in the presence of the president. We were the ones who invited the president; it wasn’t the president who invited us.”
Similarly, a former member of the House of Representatives and ardent supporter of Fubara, Hon. Ogbonna Nwuke, said both parties had agreed on the intervention of the president.
Nwuke said, “Peace has returned. What it means is that both parties have agreed on the intervention of the President and the roadmap they agree upon is for the progress of Rivers State.”
Sources disclosed some of the terms of the peace accord to include that the current members of Rivers State Independent Electoral Commission (RISIEC) constituted by the Sole Administrator, Ibas Ete, would conduct the local government election in the state; all 23 LGA chairmen to be selected by the real structure that brought him (Fubara) to power, the Wike group; all commissioners and special advisers appointed to be given to neutral individuals with zero link to the political crisis, and former Chief of Staff to the suspended governor, Ehie Edison, the factional speaker, Oko Jumbo, former secretary to the state government (SSG), Tammy Danagogo, Chijioke Ihunwo, Promise Reginald, Ichemati (Sugar Mayor) and others who spearheaded the crisis would not be a part of the Fubara-led administration again.
These truce terms were, however, not confirmed yesterday by both the Wike and Fubara sides.
While addressing journalists after the Aso Rock meeting, Wike said, “We have all agreed to work together with the governor, and the governor also agreed to work with all of us.”
He described the conflict as a disagreement within the family, which had now been amicably resolved.
“Yes, just like humans, you have a disagreement, and then you also have a time to settle your disagreement. That has been finally concluded today. We have come to report to Mr President on what we have agreed. For me, everything is over. I urge everyone who believes in us to also work together with everybody. There’s no more acrimony. There’s nothing to say,” he declared.
Governor Fubara echoed similar sentiments, thanking President Tinubu for facilitating the peace process.
“For me, it’s a day we have to thank Almighty God. It is very important that this day has come to be. What we need for the progress of Rivers State is peace, and by the special grace of God, this night, with the help of Mr President and the agreement of the leaders of the state, peace has returned in Rivers State,” the governor said.
He promised that his administration would do everything possible to sustain the peace going forward.
“We’ll do everything within our power to ensure that we sustain it this time around,” Fubara added.
Following the escalation of the feud, President Tinubu declared a state of emergency in the state on March 18 and suspended Fubara, his deputy, and members of the state legislature.
Tinubu swore in Vice Admiral Ibok-Ete Ekwe Ibas as the sole administrator to run the state’s affairs during the emergency rule.
Rivers Calm After Peace Accord
Meanwhile, the state has remained calm since the news of the peace accord filtered into Port Harcourt, the state capital.
Our correspondent, who moved around Port Harcourt, saw the residents in groups discussing the development.
A chieftain of the APC in the state, Hon. Innocent Ajaelu, thanked Tinubu for his second intervention in the political crisis in the state.
Ajaelu said, “Ab initio, there was no case to be settled. What has happened is that a father and son have come to terms in what they have agreed before now. So, there was no case to be settled.
“Second, for the progress and peace of Rivers State, I want to officially thank President Bola Tinubu for his timely intervention because if he had abided by the peace accord reached five months ago, we wouldn’t have been where we are today.
“But, on the wisdom of Mr President, because he is the father of all, he still called them and intervened. So, I want to thank Mr President for what he has done in Rivers State.”
On his part, another APC chieftain, Darlington Nwauju, said, “Let me indulge speculatively using an idiom in my native language, which if translated, means ‘nobody crosses the pit toilet with both legs at the same time.”
“The governor may have taken the first option before him to regain his seat, but, for me as a stakeholder in the Rivers’ project, this is ridiculous given that everybody has a fundamental right under our laws to aspire to be anything.
“It is ludicrous if the governor sacrificed his rights to aspire, even though I was not part of those who voted him in 2023. I do not see courage in choosing to tow that path of self-preservation.
“This has absolutely nothing to do with Governor Sim Fubara as a person; it has broader implications for the Office of the Governor of Rivers State, and everybody claiming to be from this state should do good by protecting the dignity of that office.
“But, let me predict that the happenings in Rivers State will still certainly find a way to reverberate within the political space in the future. Mark my words,” Nwauju said.
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