Enemies wanted Rivers State’s citizens to have bleak Christmas

Siminalayi Fubara, governor of Rivers State, has said that some enemies of the state wanted citizens to have bleak Christmas.
Fubara said this in Port Harcourt, the capital of Rivers State, on Thursday, during the launch of the 2025 Armed Forces Remembrance Emblem Appeal Fund.

He said he would continue to shield the state from people who plot daily to cause “chaos and widespread disaffection among the people.”

“Some persons who have decided to be enemies of this state wanted us to experience a black Christmas,” he said.

Fubara’s comment is not unconnected to a court order stopping Rivers State’s financial allocation in October.
Joyce Abdulmalik, the presiding judge, had ruled that Rivers State should not get federal allocations until the passage of a lawful appropriation act by a validly constituted house of assembly. But Rivers has since appealed the judgment, with the accountant-general’s spokesman admitting that the state would get its allocations due to the appeal.

“We are determined to make sure that the interest of Rivers state should be the first thing. We were able, not easily, but to meet our obligations as a government.

“And today, I can say boldly that our civil servants are happy, even in the face of all the propaganda that the state’s allocation fell under one bridge.

“But we are now the first state that did not just make the promise but have lived up to that promise. Today, civil servants that were collecting N70,000 are jubilating with N120,000 and N140,000.”

“What is the greatest joy any government can achieve? You might do some projects, but the most important thing is the happiness that you leave in the hearts of people.
“People will forget that Sir Dr. Peter Odili built this banquet hall, but they won’t forget the story of when they couldn’t pay their children’s school fees because of poor salary.

“But with their salary now improved, they will always remember that, and say look, if not for that government, this my son wouldn’t have been a graduate; if not for that salary, this my son would not be a lawyer; he will not be a judge; he will not be an engineer.”