Rivers crisis: Eight bullets at Sim Fubara?

…Attacks aim to make him political irrelevant – Observers

Governor Sim Fubara has been receiving attacks which political observers prefer to call bullets. Each is said to be either to bring him down or to make him unelectable in 2027.

Fubara came to power expecting the fiercest bullets to come from those who did not want him to become governor, mostly those who objected to his nomination within the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) then or those in the All Progressives Congress (APC) and the Labour Party.

Soon, however, the table turned and the music changed tune and the wind began to blow in the opposite direction such that those who want him out most are from those who wanted him in badly, and those who want him to stay in were those who wanted him not in. That is the twist of Rivers politics today.

To capture it succinctly, former governor, Nyesom Wike, who was his godfather, turned against him and allegedly used his men in the Rivers State to unseat his political godson. This created the two fierce camps in the state at the moment.

The way it is at the moment, it appears no camp will survive with the other alive.

Bullet one: Impeachment attempt:

On Monday, October 30, 2024, the Rivers State House of Assembly had divided at night into 27 for Wike and four for Fubara. The governor however fought back by not allowing the House to sit and pass laws.

A faction emerged in the House of Assembly to support Fubara and sustain him. This battle has continued to this day, and it has led to bombing of the House of Assembly, bulldozing the auditorium, relocation of sittings, teargassing of a governor, etc.

Bullet two: Call for resignation:

The presidency intervened in the crisis leading to the famous Aso Rock Accord. This only brought some semblance of peace but did not bring rapprochement. No love was seen lost, many said.

The next was calls for his resignation as governor. This was backed by term assessments which scored Fubara ‘minus zero’ by a faction of the APC in the state backed by Wike.

The state APC caretaker leadership said all projects amounted to zero because, according to them, he did not credit Wike as starter of the projects.

Some members of the public expressed shock pointing to three roads of N501.2Bn, 20,000 Housing scheme, etc.

Bullet three: LGA fireworks;

The next bullet seemed to be the plot to capture the local councils from him through tenure elongation.

The lawmakers asked the local councils to continue for another six months in the first instance. They argued that it was because there was no election to produce new council chairmen and that caretaker was no longer allowed in the law. This came to a head when the terms ended on June 17, 2024, and there was a battle of who takes over.

Fubara was ready with his caretaker committee members while Wike was ready with the old council chairmen. The police captured the secretariats and so it remained. Bombs have been detonated, protests have endured, but no one controls the councils.

Read also: Rivers crisis: Pro-Fubara lawmakers hold sitting, move to challenge appeal court judgement

Bullet four: Calls for State of Emergency;

When calls for resignation didn’t seem to achieve much wounds, the next bullet was call for State of Emergency.

The callers said there was instability in the state and that the centre could not hold. At that moment, many law suits were going on.

Many say the bombs and protests were created to prove to those who have the power to declare a state of emergency to accept that of a truth, life had become brutish in the state.

Bullet five: Shut down bank accounts;

The current bullet is the resolution by the Wike-backed lawmakers ordering banks and government agencies that release funds not to allow Fubara spend.

There was a Supreme Court ruling stopping allocations to LGAs that have no elected councils. Those sympathetic to Fubara say the system had been in place for decades despite what is in the 1999 constitution. They wondered why it seems very urgent to stop allocations except to democratically elected councils.

Now, if allocation to councils stop flowing to Rivers State, and the FAAC is stopped, many say it would mean that it is the Presidency that is fighting Fubara, not only Wike.

Fubara has fought back by getting the lawmakers loyal to him to pass counter resolution. It is yet to be seen how this bullet would hurt.

Bullet six: Fubara shoots Fubara;

This bullet looks strange for the mere fact that some political observers claim the governor too is shooting himself in the foot.

Those who put forward this argument led by Tony Okocha, the APC caretaker chairman, say repeatedly that the entire crisis or war in Rivers’ state is Fubara fighting Fubara. They claim he makes mistakes by not taking certain actions that would get him points in the war.

They point to some of such actions and insist that he is the one that would be blamed if the state failed.

Bullet seven: Not obeying the President’s order fully

Those pushing this argument say for him to obey any of the eight-point agreement meant he legitimised the Aso Rock Agreement. They argue he should have found a way to obey all or leave all.

The ones they point to most are not representing the N800bn 2024 budget before the Wike-backed lawmakers. The other is for appointing caretaker committees. They point to the warning by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu that whoever breached the agreements would face sanctions. Have the sanctions started?

Bullet eight: Not getting court rulings vacated

Some say the approach by the governor of not getting court orders vacated look like what the Amaechi-led APC did many times in the past which they claim made him to play into Wike’s hands.

Some point to the situation where the Martin Amaewhule faction of the House suspended Edison Ehie and the three others. They insist that the suspension was not lifted at any point. They say Ehie should have warmed himself back to the majority and get them to lift the suspension, then, he and his camp could strike. They argue that if the court rules that Amaewhule and camp were okay, then their suspension of Ehie and others would stand and the laws made by them would be in trouble.

They further point to the Appeal Court ruling which seemed to say Amaewhule and friends were not known to the law to be gone. They say the governor would have to fight hard to vacate that ruling or going to the lower court to get orders not to obey the Appeal Court was Fubara fighting Fubara.

The Fubara legal defenders have however, said the high court order was not countering the Appeal Court ruling but the resolutions passed by Amaewhule. They said they had since notified the court that they were appealing the ruling.

Opponents say the Supreme Court was going to consolidate all cases and deliver one ruling. Such a ruling would be an earthquake that would obliterate many political careers; left or right. It may be the bullet of all bullets against Fubara if it favoured Wike, or a silver bullet that solves everything, if it favours Fubara.

Conclusion:

It is not clear if the armoury from where the bullets are coming is dry or more is coming. One of the lords of the opposition was quoted to have said that he was fighting to make sure the governor would not be comfortable to perform, so the people would say he failed.

If that notion is true, it may mean that the bullets were not over, yet. Sources say the courts do not look at sympathy or sentiments. Law is law, they intoned to this reporter.