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Wike-Fubara Crisis - Wike Has No Hand In Rivers' Political Crisis - AGF
https://osazuwaakonedo.news/wike-fubara-crisis-wike-has-no-hand-in-rivers-political-crisis-agf/19/03/2025/
#Breaking News #Fagbemi #Fubara #Rivers #Tinubu #Wike ©March 19th, 2025 ®March 19, 2025 6:28 pm President Bola Ahmed Tinubu aide, Nyesom Wike who is the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, FCT and the immediate past Governor of Rivers State that is widely believed to be the apparent root cause of the political crisis in the state – who, shortly after the swearing-in of Governor Siminalayi Fubara, Wike helped to the seat of power, was accused by the sitting Governor, Siminalayi Fubara of trying to use the State House of Assembly to frustrate and impeach him from office, simply because, he, Fubara refused to accept certain terms and conditions they both had in private, which, till now, both refused to tell the public the apparent personal political misunderstandings that made the Governor, Fubara to resort to self defence by thus applying some measures within his powers as the Governor to frustrate and stop his impeachment from the probably instigated Rivers State House of Assembly lawmakers whose majority of them, up to 27 members are seemly loyal to the FCT Minister, who – Wike, a few days ago, was the person that announced through the media to the general public that if an Ijaw son, Siminalayi Fubara is impeached, nothing would happened, a statement he made, suggesting he may have conspired with the lawmakers to impeach the governor; because by his statements during the press conference, he was probably already doing damage control even when the House of Assembly has not served the governor – an impeachment notice, but, in the face of the foregoing facts, the Nigeria Minister of Justice and the Attorney General of the Federation, Lateef Fagbemi at a press briefing a few hours ago at the State House in Abuja, exonerated the FCT MInister and said categorically that the FCT Minister has no hand in the political crisis that has engulfed the oil rich Rivers State, leading to militants bombing crude oil pipelines to destroy Nigeria economy probably as a way of protesting against the Federal Government seemly one sided style of handling misunderstandings in the state.
e #OsazuwaAkonedo
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0:00
president Bola Ahmed Tonubu aid Naism Yk
0:03
who is the minister of the federal
0:05
capital territory FCT and the immediate
0:08
past governor of River State that is
0:10
widely believed to be the apparent root
0:12
cause of the political crisis in the
0:14
state who shortly after the swearing in
0:17
of Governor Simai Fabara YK helped to
0:20
the seat of power was accused by the
0:22
sitting governor Siminalai Fabara of
0:25
trying to use the state house of
0:26
assembly to frustrate and impeach him
0:28
from office simply because he Fabara
0:32
refused to accept certain terms and
0:34
conditions they both had in private
0:36
which till now both refused to tell the
0:39
public the apparent personal political
0:41
misunderstandings that made the governor
0:44
for resort to self-defense by thus
0:46
applying some measures within his powers
0:48
as the governor to frustrate and stop
0:50
his impeachment from the probably
0:52
instigated Rivers state house of
0:54
assembly lawmakers whose majority of
0:56
them up to 27 members are seemly loyal
1:00
to the FCT minister who y a few days ago
1:04
was the person that announced through
1:06
the media to the general public that if
1:08
anor similar is impeached nothing would
1:12
happened A statement he made suggesting
1:14
he may have conspired with the lawmakers
1:16
to impeach the governor because by his
1:19
statements during the press conference
1:21
he was probably already doing damage
1:23
control even when the house of assembly
1:26
has not served the governor an
1:28
impeachment notice But in the face of
1:30
the foregoing facts the Nigeria Minister
1:33
of Justice and the Attorney General of
1:34
the Federation Latif Fagi at a press
1:37
briefing a few hours ago at the state
1:39
house in Abuja exonerated the FCT
1:42
minister and said categorically that the
1:45
FCT minister has no hand in the
1:47
political crisis that has engulfed the
1:49
oil rich rivers state leading to
1:52
militants bombing crude oil pipelines to
1:54
destroy Nigeria economy probably as a
1:56
way of protesting against the federal
1:58
government seemly one-sided style of
2:01
handling misunderstandings in the state
2:03
Detailed statements of the Minister of
2:06
Justice and the Attorney General of the
2:08
Federation as transcribed and reported
2:10
by Channels Television are presented
2:12
verbatim below At a media chat with
2:15
state house correspondent in Abuja the
2:18
AGF said President Boler Tonubu acted
2:20
timely with his proclamation of
2:22
emergency rule in River State the
2:25
suspension of the governor and the
2:26
appointment of a sole administration
2:28
Vice Admiral Ibokit Ibas retired Fagmi
2:32
said Fabara demolished the state house
2:34
of assembly complex to avoid being
2:36
impeached and refused to rebuild it more
2:39
than one year later The justice minister
2:42
said Fabara failed to implement the
2:44
February 28th 2025 ruling of the Supreme
2:47
Court and did not caution militants who
2:49
had threatened to blow pipelines in the
2:51
state There was not a word dissuading
2:54
the militant who issued the threats he
2:56
said He said the situation could be
2:59
allowed to continue as the critical
3:01
economic lifeline of the nation was
3:03
criminally touched Fagbe also said the
3:06
emergency rule declaration was some sort
3:08
of saving grace for Fabara who has been
3:11
served impeachment notice If that
3:13
impeachment had been allowed to take its
3:16
full course the governor would have
3:18
entirely lost him completely So in a way
3:21
instead of allowing the impeachment to
3:23
continue and which in the end would have
3:25
seen both the governor and the deputy
3:27
governor out of office for the entirety
3:29
of their 4-year term with the remainder
3:31
of what they have a balance of 2 years
3:34
and 2 months the AGF said Fagmi said the
3:38
Minister of the Federal Capital
3:40
Territory FCT Nais YK did not feature in
3:44
the matter that was decided by the
3:46
Supreme Court and should not be
3:48
sentimentally brought into it
3:50
W the immediate past governor of River
3:52
State has been locked in a protracted
3:56
power tussle with Fabara his aranged
3:58
former political gods for about 2 years
4:02
The apex court had backed the pro- YK
4:04
assembly led by Martin Zami Wule Fagbe
4:08
said YK should not be brought into the
4:10
matter as he was not responsible for the
4:12
actions of Fabara who failed to act in
4:14
line with the constitutional
4:16
requirements of getting the approval of
4:18
the state legislators in the affairs of
4:20
running the state He said there are
4:23
occasions when it comes to national
4:25
issues We have to come out plainly and
4:27
sincerely Where do you put the minister
4:30
of the FCT in this case was he the one
4:33
who asked for the demolition of the
4:35
House of Assembly was he the one who
4:37
said the governor should not present the
4:39
budget to the House of Assembly was he
4:42
the one who advised the governor not to
4:44
go through the House of Assembly for
4:46
purposes of ratifying the commissioner
4:48
nominees i don't know because if you
4:50
want to look at a case you look at the
4:53
facts that have been presented The
4:55
Supreme Court made these critical
4:57
findings The FCT minister did not
5:00
feature Assuming he featured he would
5:02
have featured on the side of the
5:04
legislators But what you have here is
5:06
let everybody go home for the first 6
5:09
months So I don't see his hands here in
5:12
what we have Fagbe advised all those who
5:16
do not agree with the president's move
5:17
to channel their energy to the National
5:19
Assembly to veto the president's
5:21
decision We had reported that two female
5:24
lawmakers Maria Ebuk PDP by Elsa State
5:29
and Blessing Amadi PDP River State on
5:32
Wednesday engaged in a heated argument
5:34
almost leading to a fight at the
5:36
National Assembly ahead of the pleenary
5:38
session scheduled by the National
5:40
Assembly leadership to discuss approve
5:42
or reject the proclamation of state of
5:45
emergency declared on Tuesday night by
5:47
President Bola Ahmed Tonubu over the
5:50
apparent personal political crisis
5:52
between the state governor Simai Fabara
5:55
and Tanubu's aid Naisam W the FCT
5:58
minister and the immediate past governor
6:00
of the south south state we had reported
6:03
that the former vice president of
6:05
Nigeria Atiku Abu Bakar and former
6:08
governor of an amra state Peter Obi both
6:11
of whom were co-contestants as
6:12
presidential candidates in the last
6:14
presidential election in Nigeria have
6:17
reacted to the state of emergency and
6:19
suspension of elected government in
6:21
Rivers state by President Bola Ahmed
6:23
Tonubu with a tiku accusing and
6:25
describing President Bola Ahmed Tonubu
6:28
as a vested partisan actor in the
6:30
political turmoil engulfing River State
6:32
We had reported that the Nigeria
6:34
president Boler Ahmed Tonubu in a
6:37
nationwide broadcast on Tuesday evening
6:40
for the first time more than a decade in
6:42
the history of the West Africa country
6:44
declared a state of emergency in rivers
6:47
state and suspended for initial 6 months
6:49
The governor Simolai Fabara and his
6:52
deputy in Gaziodu all elected members of
6:55
the state house of assembly and
6:57
appointed retired vice admiral Ibok Ibas
7:00
as administrator to work with the
7:01
existing laws of rivers state with the
7:04
members of the state judiciary following
7:06
the apparent personal political crisis
7:08
between the river's state governor
7:10
Simolai Fabara and his former boss and
7:13
the immediate past governor of the state
7:15
Naism Wu is currently the minister of
7:18
the federal capital territory
7:20
FCT that was seen a few days ago in a
7:22
viral video apparently making carless
7:25
statements as a government official
7:27
Statements capable of instigating a
7:29
particular ethnic group against the
7:31
government wherein the FCT minister has
7:34
said thus that I people are minority
7:37
group in the south south and if their
7:39
son Fabara is impeached nothing would
7:41
happened After the statements YK refused
7:44
to apologize to the IU people despite
7:47
public outcry and condemnations Days
7:50
after confirmed by President Bola Ahmed
7:53
Tonubu some militants started destroying
7:56
crude oil pipelines in River State as
7:58
media reports trends and indicated that
8:00
pro-wick lawmakers may have concluded
8:03
plans to impeach Governor Simino Fabara
8:06
Uh the questions are more or less
8:08
related but let me start on the note of
8:11
how we got to where we are today How did
8:14
it all start that is about the uh um
8:18
genesis We all know how we got here
8:22
since 2023
8:26
uh I think towards the end of
8:28
2023 things have not been going on well
8:32
to the extent that the governor took the
8:35
law into his hands and demolished
8:37
brought down the house of assembly don't
8:42
forget the role of the house of assembly
8:44
they are the lawmakers they to consider
8:46
budget they to you know pass budget they
8:49
are also to be approached in matters of
8:53
appointment of commissioners for
8:55
ratification
8:56
and all other things they are to do
8:58
oversight functions So since that
9:01
happened things have not been the same
9:03
at all In a community of 32 you expect
9:07
that at least 15 or 16 will be there to
9:12
do the job The governor like I said and
9:16
it is no longer news Uh abort three or
9:21
four of the members constituted them to
9:24
the house of into the house of assembly
9:26
and give them preferential treatment
9:28
move them to the government house to be
9:31
uh doing legislative performing
9:33
legislative functions This uh situation
9:38
got to the court There were about 10 15
9:42
16 cases and at the end of the day the
9:45
Supreme Court came out and made very
9:48
profound
9:50
uh uh um findings of breaches of the
9:55
constitution mainly against the governor
9:58
You see you fall you rise or fall on the
10:02
basis of what you took to court and what
10:05
decision of the court is on it work
10:08
together The court came to the decision
10:10
that the governor had long anticipatedly
10:16
that he might be
10:19
impeached and because of that he knew
10:22
that the the house of assembly was a
10:24
critical structure or yes organ to do
10:28
that brought down the house of
10:32
assembly 14 months after that is as at
10:35
yesterday it was 14 months there was no
10:37
effort
10:38
effort to rebuild the house of assembly
10:42
The government stands on a
10:44
tripoid The executive the legislature
10:47
and the
10:49
judiciary made the functioning of
10:53
government
10:55
impossible stakeholders It is not enough
10:57
for the legisl for the executive to say
10:59
we are spending money Even the money you
11:01
want to spend must have been
11:03
appropriated for by the house of
11:05
assembly These are some of the findings
11:09
that made and at the end of the day the
11:12
Supreme Court said or came to a decision
11:15
that the behavior of the governor was
11:19
like a
11:20
despot and that as situation was there
11:24
was no government in rivers If there was
11:27
no government in rivers what else are we
11:30
looking for
11:31
i'm so sorry for bringing in this um
11:35
this issue in the Bible They asked Jesus
11:39
Christ are you the son of God and he
11:41
said yes Then another chorus What
11:43
further evidence we would do we need
11:45
from this
11:46
manace so the stage is set But no action
11:50
was taken immediately in the expectation
11:53
or hope that good sense will prevail the
11:58
governor will create an enabling
12:00
environment and that the house of
12:02
assembly too would be uh uh reasonable
12:06
enough to ensure that the people of
12:10
Rivers actually got a return for their
12:15
voting of both members of the House of
12:18
Assembly
12:19
and the governor and other elected
12:21
officials to enjoy dividends of
12:23
democracy We are in a democracy So no
12:28
then there were what I will call uh uh
12:32
uh
12:33
telegraphing of the militants I will say
12:36
by the governor and the reason I said so
12:38
was when he he beckoned to them that oh
12:41
he will let them know when it was time
12:43
to act to the
12:45
militants Let us say it was wrong Did he
12:48
come out to disown them the answer is no
12:53
And a week after they swung into action
12:57
you see or witness vandalization of oil
13:02
pipelines Don't also forget that before
13:05
now that is when this government came
13:08
into uh uh uh office Nigeria was
13:11
producing about 900,000 uh liters of oil
13:15
uh that will bring a day peace with the
13:19
efforts and all the uh uh um um uh
13:24
ingenuity that the president
13:26
had he ensured that the production rose
13:30
to about 1,000 uh u 1 um five uh barrel
13:36
per day That's about 45 of something
13:41
increase Governors were smiling home at
13:45
the end of the month with about 60%
13:48
increase in their take home to their
13:51
various governors Then somebody rose or
13:53
encouraged or became inactive when he
13:56
was supposed to act There was not a word
14:00
dissuading the threat the militant who
14:04
issued the threat in today's Nigeria
14:08
Maybe with the efforts of the Mr
14:11
President
14:13
Agreek will come in today We still rely
14:17
largely on oil for anyone to
14:22
touch these uh uh um that of
14:27
um this
14:29
um for pipelines It's not only the enemy
14:33
of rivers is the enemy of Nigeria
14:37
All Nigerians all the 36 states share in
14:42
what comes in
14:43
from the production of this oil And I
14:47
believe that the decision of Mr
14:51
President is anchored on the decision
14:55
of the court supreme court alertes The
15:00
second one is the
15:03
inability of those involved both the
15:06
house of assembly and the governor from
15:10
being able to you know create an
15:14
enabling environment for the people of
15:18
rivers to enjoy the dividends of
15:21
democracy Then the third theories is
15:25
about the uh uh the the the security
15:29
situation in that place you know if he
15:33
had waited maybe a day longer only God
15:37
knows what would have um followed And as
15:40
a result of that he came out to say I am
15:44
not only the head of state and
15:46
commanderin-chief of the armed forces
15:50
declared a state of emergency The first
15:53
question is history decision When should
15:56
he when I will ask rather rhetorically
15:59
when do you think should have come when
16:02
everything has collapsed no The law
16:06
envisages that you come in when there is
16:11
present imminent danger to
16:16
uh the security of lives and property
16:19
People are killing themselves It's no
16:21
longer news It's not a question of
16:23
making up the story We all read papers
16:25
every day Those who live there are
16:28
living in fears So there is certainly
16:32
the need to come in We're about two uh
16:35
years into the administration of in the
16:38
state If he didn't come in now when do
16:41
you think he should come in is it when
16:43
everything has been
16:44
destroyed i don't think so I think the
16:48
president has
16:50
acted to take place He has given
16:53
opportunity to all the people involved
16:55
the parties involved to make amends
16:58
Before then he he had assembled them He
17:01
had tried to mediate
17:05
some said he had no constitutional power
17:07
after agreeing and what they agreed to
17:10
at the meeting security and stability
17:12
were not implemented uh the people and
17:14
government of state and so to answer
17:17
your question I don't think that the
17:20
president but let me say it's not a
17:22
question of I don't think I am certain
17:25
that the president has acted timously
17:28
after giving them enough rope
17:31
and as the commander-in-chief of the
17:33
armed forces meaningful it was a tough
17:36
decision for him to to make it doesn't
17:39
present anybody with joy to destruct the
17:44
flow of democracy or practice of it But
17:47
the constitution
17:48
itself envisages that there may be this
17:52
type of situation and that is why it is
17:55
provided in section 305 of the
17:58
constitution that extraordinary
18:00
situations might arise This is one of
18:03
such extraordinary situations The second
18:06
one is about oh removing the governor
18:10
removing the deputy governor You see you
18:11
decide each case on its own peculiar
18:14
facts and circumstances Who are the
18:16
people involved who are the parties
18:18
involved in this saga
18:21
they are the governor members of the
18:23
house of assembly state So who else
18:27
should have been
18:28
affected i've heard this funny argument
18:31
I'm sorry for saying it is funny because
18:32
it doesn't make any sense to me Oh that
18:35
the president should have just gone
18:37
there to secure the pipelines and then
18:40
come back when some people are
18:42
thereability
18:43
encouraging vandals to come in state and
18:47
Nigeria at large the circumstances that
18:50
led to the action of the president is
18:53
the like you know you
18:55
the what happened is the effect of a
18:58
fundamental cause and you cannot be
19:01
treating the cause the effect in order
19:03
to cure the cause what was the
19:05
cause the governor and members of the
19:09
house of assembly
19:10
So you don't try to uh uh
19:14
um you have to behave responsibly and
19:18
you must have the gut if it happens
19:20
again to ensure I will encourage Mr
19:23
President to do the same maybe this time
19:26
with even greater vigor and
19:28
vitality So the question
19:31
of separating or treating or giving
19:34
preferential treatment to anybody does
19:36
not arise You give pre preferential
19:39
treatment to anybody You are giving
19:40
preferential treatment
19:44
toism just call is paid is paid This is
19:47
where I believe that we should put up
19:51
our patriotism cap It shouldn't be about
19:55
individual It should not be about
19:57
anybody It should be about the entity
20:00
called Nigeria But in this case River
20:03
State River State So it is river's turn
20:07
today It can be anybody's turn tomorrow
20:10
Let the signal be clearly sent for those
20:12
who want to who want to make the
20:15
practice of democracy and enjoyment of
20:17
devant of democracy a mirage to think
20:21
twice So I answer the question by saying
20:25
I return the resounding no to the quest
20:29
that the uh governor and should
20:34
have or the members of the house of
20:37
assembly they were all in it So then the
20:42
other one is about compromise and
20:43
replacement It appears
20:45
so don't forget I think yesterday there
20:48
was a notice of impeachment from the
20:50
house of assembly If that impeachment
20:53
had been um allowed to take its full
20:57
course then the governor would have lost
21:00
entirely and completely So in a way if
21:03
you say it's a compromise I will agree
21:06
that instead of allowing the allowing
21:08
the uh
21:10
um impeachment
21:13
process to
21:15
continue and which in the end would have
21:17
seen both the governor and the deputy
21:20
governor out of office and been out for
21:22
the entirety of the 4-year term with the
21:26
remainder of what it we have we have one
21:31
month one Yeah I think about 9 months
21:33
that I have to work together leaving a
21:37
is it a balance to ensure of um 2 years
21:43
bringers who are bringing you the news
21:47
in a mortgage She's our man
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