₦airaland Forum

President Bola Tinubu commands the Nigerian Army, the Nigeria Police Force, the DSS, and every critical lever of federal security. These are not under state control. Yet, each time violence or chaos erupts in a state—particularly one with a governor not fully submissive to Abuja—the script is recycled: “The governor has failed,” “Security collapsed under his watch,” “He must be removed.”

What we’re seeing is not just political hypocrisy—it’s weaponized governance. Rivers State’s crisis is merely the latest in a string of events where federal power conveniently turns a blind eye until it’s time to bring down the hammer on a sitting governor.

Let’s be clear: Governor Sim Fubara does not command the army. He does not direct the police. Yet, he is being blamed for a breach of security in a state where every major security apparatus answers to the federal government. Worse, he is being threatened with impeachment for failing to stop a problem he wasn’t allowed to solve.

How do you blame a man for not extinguishing a fire when you refused to give him a hose?

The excuse often given is that “state police could be abused by governors.” But what exactly is the federal government doing differently? Is deploying troops selectively, turning on or off law enforcement based on political loyalty, not also abuse?

Since the inauguration of this administration, Nigeria has seen terror in Plateau, endless kidnappings in Zamfara, ethnic attacks in Benue, and chaos in Nasarawa and Kaduna. In each of those cases, federal forces were deployed—some swiftly, some late, but none led to the impeachment of a governor.

So what makes Fubara’s case different?

Here’s the ugly truth: when the governor is not aligned with the center, chaos becomes a tool. A dirty trick. A false flag. Stir unrest, withdraw security support, sit back and wait. Then trigger a political ambush under the guise of constitutional order. It’s not new. But it’s getting bolder.

We must not allow this to become the new normal.

If governors are to be held accountable for the security of their states, they must be given 100% authority over state policing. Not halfway. Not shared command. Full power. Anything less is a setup for failure, an invitation for Abuja to keep playing puppet master while pretending to be shocked when the stage collapses.

The National Assembly must stop being complicit. If it has any remaining integrity, it must summon President Tinubu himself to answer hard questions about the escalating insecurity nationwide. Not just in Rivers. Let there be a vote of confidence in the President, not just scapegoating of governors under siege.

You cannot keep lighting fires and then jailing the man without a fire truck.

Nigerians are not fools. We see the playbook. You can only gaslight a nation for so long. The day will come when the people start asking who the real saboteur is—and when that day comes, no impeachment will be enough to stop the reckoning.

This is not governance.
This is gangsterism in agbada.
And we won’t be silent.

Both

When you have criminals as leaders, don't expect things to go smoothly.

Chaos and disorder is their main state policy.

Without state policing, there will never be peace in Nigeria.

The governor is the chief-security-officer of his state. He swore an oath to that effect

EXOUSIAng:
The governor is the chief-security-officer of his state. He swore an oath to that effect

How is he the chief security when he has zero control over the state CP or the GOC of the army unit?

In Benue state, a mere wing commander denied a sitting governor entrance to an event.
That was former governor Ortom. An eternal fool

The President! All the Security forces takes orders from him. The Governors are only at his mercy

The president in the case of Nigeria, they police or army will listen to you if only you are an apc member if not they will fight you, but time will tell in this regime