₦airaland Forum

The commissioners who left Fubara may make history in Nigeria as the first set of officials to voluntarily resign their appointment to spite a governor, and then force their way back into the same cabinet.

By Cletus Ukpong


Monday’s peace deal between Governor Siminalayi Fubara of Rivers State, and his predecessor, Nyesom Wike, is expected to bring an end to the political crisis in the oil-rich state.

The crisis has affected the legislature and put a question mark on the governor’s legitimacy and the integrity of democracy in the state.

The cause of the crisis is simply about Mr Wike’s ambition to have an absolute grip on the politics and governance in Rivers after his tenure ended about seven months ago on 29 May and even though he got a new job as the minister of the Federal Capital Territory.

President Bola Tinubu, who became Mr Wike’s political ally after the latter helped him to win the 2023 presidential election, mediated the peace meeting, the second in less than two months – He also chaired the first.

Nigerians have been outraged by the terms of the peace deal, which include the reappointment of all the commissioners (Wike’s loyalists) who resigned from the Rivers State Government to spite Mr Fubara, the restoration of the 25 lawmakers whose seats were declared vacant because they defected from the PDP to the APC, and for the governor to present again the state’s 2024 budget, which he had already signed into law, to all the lawmakers, including the ones whose seats had been declared vacant.

Mr Fubara has been assured in the deal that the lawmakers loyal to Mr Wike would drop their impeachment plot against him, while he and his loyalists are to withdraw all the court cases related to the matter.

The pro-Wike lawmakers, in keeping with the terms of the peace deal, withdrew the impeachment notice against Governor Fubara on Wednesday.


Winners

What is going on right now in Rivers is just what it is – a selfish and dangerous political game, with Mr Wike being the instigator, lead actor and the ultimate winner.

Before the latest peace deal, Mr Fubara had the upper hand in the power tussle, having smartly deployed legal means and some rough play (like the demolition of the Rivers House of Assembly Complex) to successfully edge out Mr Wike and the “rebellious” lawmakers.

Rivers residents and other Nigerians indeed found a suitable moment to mock Mr Wike, using the minister’s signature tune “As e dey sweet us, e go dey pain dem”, when Mr Fubara presented Rivers’ N800 billion 2024 budget to a four-member legislature.

Now, the peace deal is a breather for Mr Wike, and if it succeeds, President Tinubu would have helped prevent the minister from falling off a political cliff and made him continue to lord over Governor Fubara and the state.

President Tinubu, the APC, and the 25 lawmakers are among the winners in the peace deal. The lawmakers won’t have to forfeit their seats, despite their defection. They may even get their salaries and allowances which were withheld by the state government. With the 25 (some say 27) defected lawmakers, the APC will proudly control the state legislature, a textbook example of reaping where you did not sow.

The commissioners who resigned from Mr Fubara’s cabinet will certainly be among the big winners if the peace accord succeeds.

These former commissioners may make history in Nigeria as the first set of officials to voluntarily resign their appointment to spite a governor, and then force their way back into the same cabinet.


Losers

The Rivers people are the biggest losers in the peace deal between Governor Fubara and Mr Wike, as their governor and government are being stripped of power and legitimacy. The judiciary, democracy and constitutional governance are also big losers here.

“The first casualty here is constitutional governance,” says Sam Amadi, an analyst with Arise News.

“The second casualty would be a sense in which the people of Rivers State will feel re-captive because essentially the unspoken aspect of this deal is that the state is given back to Nyesom Wike. Mr President in a very high political gamesmanship kind of said, ‘Give Rivers State back to Wike’. (This is) a form of state capture,” he added.

Mr Amadi said President Tinubu’s “capture” of Lagos State since after his tenure as governor in 2007 may have influenced his disposition to let Mr Wike “run away with some kind of victory” in the peace deal.

Mr Fubara, who appears to have had his office ridiculed, is a loser in the peace deal with Mr Wike.

The peace deal may only usher in a temporary relief for Mr Fubara. Being an experienced, shrewd, and ambitious politician, Mr Wike is likely to still take his pound of flesh from the governor when there is another opportunity, some people say.

“I have now read the Rivers agreement. The accord will remove the knife from the neck of Sim and set it behind his back,” said a former senator, Shehu Sani.

“The accord will bury the hatchets with leaves. The accord outwardly sells peace, but internally buys time for another round of war,” Mr Sani added.

Some Rivers elders, led by Rufus Ada-Gorge, a former governor of the state, said on Tuesday that if the peace deal is allowed to succeed it would amount to President Tinubu unilaterally suspending the Nigerian Constitution by reversing the court order which recognised a pro-Fubara lawmaker, Edison Ehie, as the speaker of the Rivers assembly.

“Can Mr President or the Executive Arm of Government overrule the decisions of courts of competent jurisdiction?” the elders queried. “This portends executive rascality which undermines our constitutional democracy, rule of law and good governance.”

With their victory now reversed, the four pro-Fubara lawmakers are among the losers here.

So, will Governor Fubara accept the peace deal? Will he fight on or not?

“It appears that many people want to fight for Sim or with Sim and Sim doesn’t want to fight beyond his level. If he is appeased with the deal let him be. You can’t cry more than the bereaved,” the former senator, Mr Sani, said of the Rivers crisis.

https://www.premiumtimesng.com/features-and-interviews/652944-analysis-rivers-crisis-winners-losers-in-fubara-wike-peace-deal.html

I hope Fubara gets his second ticket at this point

SIM should ignore some of the directive especially number 7 & 8 to avoid empowering Wike boys

The biggest losers are those "good-for-nothing tribalists" that have been banking on Rivers' crisis to exchange blows on nairaland. I hope all of you will find something doing now.

Joblessness is a disease

Governor fubara will be the biggest fxxl if he adhere to any of those nonsense they said it's a peace deal.... Tinubu should face his front

Rivers people are not the losers. All parties should honour the agreement for there to be peace.

Articles like this are irrelevant and contribute nothing to the discuss.

Hungry jobless graduates will still take sides when politicians who have destroyed their future are fighting. I pity Nigerian youths.

Trust politicians at your own peril.

Some people were shouting "Say No Godfatherism". They forgot Fubara is sitting on that seat because of the same "Godfatherism".

The reason why humanity is suffering could be as a result of man trying to outsmart God and devil. Who knows?

Keep to your words.

The masses have always been the losers and I don't think they can ever be the winner.

Maybe, just maybe when I become the president of this country, the masses can then be the winner. 🤔

The loosers are the ipobidents shouting rivers is not Lagos as if Lagos is dragging anything with them

Sim card would forever live subservient to wike

Imagine two people negotiating about sharing the state resources.....one person taking 25percent

And the masses just accept it without questioning the servant they elected to represent them

We nor know where dey pain us for this country

Ok

The op is the loser for posting this arrant nonsense. There is no price too much for peace to reign. Who is Fubara if Wike did not bring from obscurity to limelight? Don't bite the fingers that feed you. If Fubara decided to be adamant and federal might is deployed to impeach him, will you be there to save him? Is it not illegal and unconstitutional to use 4 lawmakers to run a state? I believe the situation is a win win for all.

Na their business

ubest1:
SIM should ignore some of the directive especially number 7 & 8 to avoid empowering Wike boys

Noted.

I will pass your message across to him.

Those seats should never be given to them while in APC.

Democracy and judiciary with the mass are always the losers

Out of 8 points,the only one that favours Fubara is the stoppage of impeachment process which even the Rivers State Federal High Court had quashed.

It's 7-1 in favour of Wike and at large APC. Rivers people are the biggest losers here.

It's like this 'peace' deal dey pepper different people oo. They just wanted the vawulence, forgetting that Fubara, his speakers, commissioners, and wike are all politicians. There will always be that middle ground us keyboard warriors can not see.

Which one be this again?
Let there be Peace in Rivers State o!
Governor Fubara,please,ignore all these Political jobbers o!
I pray,God allows you to complete your term and get to the development works of the State!

MajorOvakporaye:
Hungry jobless graduates will still take sides when politicians who have destroyed their future are fighting. I pity Nigerian youths.

The thing tire oooooo

You can't kill a monster 👹 with just one stroke.
He who fights and run leaves to fight another day. Let them leave the fighting for another day.

I pity fubara

Ok

The truth about this matter is that at long run Wike will surely lose. Godfatherism has never held sway in south south. Rivers state is made up of many ethnic group and it's not possible for Fubara to allow Wike to rule over him. Even if he wish to do so, his people will not allow him. This is Ijaw time to rule and they will surely stand by their son. Wike should forget Rivers allocation and concentrate on FCT. That's the bitter truth for him. All the commissioners that resigned have already been relegated to dustbin cos Fubara will ghost them totally. This is where another war will start. Let's see how the situation is going in the next few months.

Bluntemperor:
Which one be this again?
Let there be Peace in Rivers State o!
Governor Fubara,please,ignore all these Political jobbers o!
I pray,God allows you to complete your term and get to the development works of the State!

Exactly! Imagine how many Projects he would have commissioned and for the State People to be enjoying by now, if only he was intelligent enough to know that those pushing him to fight a needless War are his biggest Enemies

The thing is that we aren't too sure of the aftermath or what else will happen. We also don't know how long the peace treaty will last. And what may happen during reelection campaign for 2027?

See people that were interviewed for this article Sam Amadi of Arise TV and Shehu Sani of Twitter Constituency... Dem for kuku interview Dele Momodu he has been crying all over social media since Monday

Islie:
The commissioners who left Fubara may make history in Nigeria as the first set of officials to voluntarily resign their appointment to spite a governor, and then force their way back into the same cabinet.




https://www.premiumtimesng.com/features-and-interviews/652944-analysis-rivers-crisis-winners-losers-in-fubara-wike-peace-deal.html

Are they back in the cabinet?

Welcome Back Nairaland!