Dr. Oni Gbolabo

1. According to Winston Churchill, former Prime Minister of the UK during the WW2, after the Allied Forces had chased Hitler out of all occupied territories he said “this is the beginning of the end, and there shall be no end until the end of the beginning”

2. Fubara began the beginning by signing a pact with a godfather, which is not known to Nigeria Constitution. It is their personal agreement nothing concerns the constitution with their agreement.

3. In order for the Godfather to consolidate his grip on the state government he sponsored 27 Assembly members and they won and became loyal.

4. Fubara too won and wanted to be governor as the law empowered him to be, but the Godfather brought his own law through his 27 loyal boys. Wike is not known to the state law so it will be useless to mention his name for now, rather we will mention the 27 boys.

5 Confrontation between the 27 boys and Fubara opened a conflict like a chess game between the state law and the 27 boys.

6. Governor on one side and the 27 foot soldiers on the other side. Beginning of the beginning of the conflict.

7. The inexperienced Governor wanted to be a super hero and stupidly demolished the State House of Assembly, his first step into tactical error, but there was nobody to tell him the truth. I can’t believe that a sane person will do that because of just 27 Assembly members.

8. Fubara in the plethora of ignorance preferred to co-opt 3 assembly members to preside over the state affairs while the 27 were gated out. What an award winning ignorance. If the idea of demolishing the Assembly House was effectual, where were the 3 members sitting? Foolish idea.

9. As notorious as the judiciary could be, did he expect the judiciary to say it is right for 3 members to take decision at the expense of 27 elected members? I think executives should be writing tests to ascertain their mental abilities or status.

10. Fubara eventually lost the case in court and simple reasoning demands that he will embrace them and trick them into an agreement of sort. No, rather began to castigate both the presidency and the 27 Assembly members. Olympic standard stupidity. When he knew he won’t abide with court verdict why did he go to the court?

11. Don’t be surprised that I didn’t mention Wiike since. I didn’t because he is not a legal entity in the matter. He is just a political entity. In case there’s another court case, his name won’t be mentioned because he is not the governor neither assembly member. So don’t waste time on him. The law didn’t recognize Wike here.

12. Rather than applying executive truce the same Fubara wanted to go tough. He made one of the most useless comments ever by any executive that HE WILL ORDER BOYS TO GO INTO DESTRUCTIVE ACTION.

13. The misguided and wrongly informed Fubara instigated chaos against himself as pipelines were blown up. He was simply pushed to misbehave and that was where he stopped facing the 27 boys and was now facing the Federal Republic of Nigeria. What a putrid ignorance.

14. This shows Fubara couldn’t manage his state and indirectly turned the war to “Fubara against the Federal Republic of Nigeria”. What a display of tactlessness. He simply caged himself into a position of an enemy of a bigger state, because that is economic sabotage and no country will sit down to watch it idly.

15. The man in charge of the Federal Republic of Nigeria responded by declaring a State of Emergency as it was done by Obasanjo in Plateau State and Ekiti State. There’s nothing new except someone deliberately choses stupidity over rationality.

16. Where are the people who hailed Fubara into the black hole? I want them to cite a law that prevented the President from declaring a State of Emergency when there is flagrant attacks on state economy. I need the law.

17. I have seen comments of those who cannot navigate a plot of land even with the aid of GPRS blaming the President. Same people will mess him up if he takes no action.

18. Note: I was against the impeachment of Fubara but he too could have applied sense. The most annoying aspect is, he will eventually pay their salaries and remuneration despite no work done. If he is lucky to come back.

19. He is a potential loser because after impeachment his kinsman will replace him and the battle will be shifted to their homestead.

20. Ademola Adeleke of Osun State knew his limit and he warned his chairmen not to go to the Secretariats because he knew what the end would likely be. When court warned APC to vacate office they did and went to court. No reasonable head will say occupying the Secretariat through violence will change what the Appeal Court stated.
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For the sake of learning, I will welcome any logical argument that is contrary to these basic facts.

© COPIED

The National Assembly has just 48 hours, expiring today, to ratify or reject the President’s emergency declaration. However, in a move that’s raising eyebrows, the President has already sworn in a Sole Administrator, bypassing the National Assembly’s approval.

The Numbers Don’t Add Up

To secure a two-thirds majority, the President needs 72 Senators and 240 Representatives. But with the current composition of the National Assembly, even if all APC Senators and Representatives vote in support, the President still falls short of the required numbers.

A Despot in the Making?

Critics are questioning whether the President, a longtime advocate of constitutional rule, is now abandoning his principles to become a despot. Others wonder if he’s willing to risk his own legacy to help Rivers State Governor Nyesom Wike regain his influence.

The President’s actions are sparking concerns about the erosion of constitutional norms and the potential for authoritarianism.

As the clock ticks down, all eyes are on the National Assembly to see how they’ll respond to the President’s emergency declaration. Will they ratify or reject it? Only time will tell.

The crisis within Rivers State traced back to October 2023 following the political fallout between Governor Fubara and his predecessor, now FCT Minister, Nyesom Wike.

The bombing of a section of the Rivers House of Assembly Complex on 29 October 2023 heightened tension.

Wike and Fubara have been locked in a protracted fight over the control of the political structures in Rivers State.

On 7th October 2024, three local government secretariats were set ablaze in Rivers.

In December 2023, the 27 lawmakers “defected” from the PDP to the APC, triggering a constitutional debate.

In response, the Rivers State High Court declared the seats of the defecting lawmakers vacant. The decision was challenged, leading to a series of legal battles.

Here is a timeline of the Rivers political crisis:

29 October 2023 – A section of the State House of Assembly Complex went into flames after suspected arsonists bombed it. This was on the eve of the impeachment attempt on Governor Fubara.

30 October 2023 – Some lawmakers, backed by Wike, initiatedimpeachment proceedings against Fubara

31 October 2023 – President Bola Tinubu mediated in the political rift between Fubara and Wike at the Presidential Villa, Abuja. The mediation failed after a short while.

11 December 2023 – The 27 pro-Wike lawmakers announced their defection from the PDP to APC, citing divisions within the PDP.

12 December 2023 – A State High Court in Port Harcourt, via an order, cleared the way for Governor Fubara-backed four-member Assembly to hold legislative business without interference by the Amaewhule-led faction.

13 December 2023 – Edison Ehie, the speaker of the four-member faction, declared vacant the seats of the 27 pro-Wike lawmakers who defected to the APC, setting the tone for another phase of the political fight.

Fubara presented the N800 billion 2024 budget to the four-member assembly.

14 December 2023 – Fubara signed the N800 billion 2024 appropriation bill into law. The Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice in the state, Zacchaeus Adangor, resigned, citing “personal principles.”

15 December 2023 – More Wike’s loyalists resigned as commissioners, increasing the tally to nine.

18 December 2023 –Fubara and Wikesigned a peace deal at a meeting convened by President Tinubu at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

20 December 2023 – The lawmakers withdrew theimpeachment notice against Governor Fubara.

31 December 2023 – Ehie, the factional speaker, who led a four-member Fubara-backed assembly, resigned.

4 January 2024 –Ehie withdrew a contempt suit against pro-Wike lawmakers, suggesting the political crisis in the state was approaching an end.

17 January 2024 – Rivers Assembly reconfirmed the nine pro-Wike commissioners who resigned from the cabinet in December

22 January 2024 – A Federal High Court in Abujaset aside the state’s N800 billion budget signed into law in December 2023 by Governor Fubara.

26 January 2024 – The Rivers Assembly stripped Governor Fubara of the power to appoint caretaker committees for local government councils after the assembly rejected the governor’s veto against its legislation.

24 April 2024 – Governor Fubara reshuffled cabinet, and redeployedthree Wike-backed commissioners. The commissioners rejected their redeployment and resignedhours later.

6 May 2024 – Governor Fubara declared that Rivers had no House of Assembly.

8 May 2024 – Victor Oko-Jumbo, a lawmaker from Bonny Constituency, emerged as the speaker of a three-member Rivers Assembly, creating more confusion and deepening the political crisis in the state.

10 May 2024 – Fubara relocated the legislative business of the Assembly to the Government House in Port Harcourt. A State High Court in Port Harcourt barred Wike’s allies from parading themselves as lawmakers.

13 May 2024—Governor Fubaravowed to probe the administration of his predecessor, Wike

15 May 2024 – Five more commissioners resigned, citing various reasons.

21 May 2024 – A State High Court in Port Harcourt nullified the amended Rivers local government law, which granted tenure extension for the local government council officials in the state

7 June 2024 – Rivers State Government approved N19.6 billion for the reconstruction of the Rivers House of Assembly Complex, six months after it was demolished.

18 June 2024 – Fubara, in a statewide broadcast, directed outgoing council officials to vacate office immediately following the expiration of their tenure.

19 June 2024: Governor Fubara inaugurated the chairpersons of the caretaker committees for the 23 local government areas in the state.

25 June 2024 –Dynamite exploded near Hotel Presidential along Aba Road, Port Harcourt, during a protest in solidarity with Wike.

4 July 2024—The Appeal Court in Abuja reinstated the pro-Wike lawmakers. The appellate court said the lower court lacked jurisdiction to grant the ex parte order it issued.

9 July 2024 – Pro-Wike lawmakers gave Governor Fubara a seven-day ultimatum to re-present the 2024 budget to them for consideration, their first legislative action after reinstatement.

21 July 2024 – A Federal High Court in Abuja declined pro-Wike lawmakers’ prayer to stop Governor Fubara from spending state funds.

13 August 2024 – Wikevowed never to support Fubara again in his political life, saying his successor was “ungrateful”.

25 August 2024 – APP in Rivers State asked Governor Fubara to seek re-election in 2027 under the party platform, claiming that the PDP had lost relevance in the state.

4 September 2024 – Justice I.P.C Igwe of a State High in Rivers orders Rivers State Independent Electoral Commission (RSIEC) to conduct local elections in the state, using the 2023 voters register.

20 September 2024 – A Federal High Court in Abuja dismissed a suit seeking to sack pro-Wike lawmakers.

21 September 2024 – Governor Fubara’s allies picked APP forms for local elections, following PDP’s boycott of the exercise.

30 September 2024 – A Federal High Court in Abuja barred INEC from releasing voters’ register to RSIEC for local elections and further barred the police from providing security for the exercise.

4 October 2024 – Governor Fubara visited the RSIEC office and allegedly foiled an attempt by the police to “cart away” materials meant for the local elections. Police barred operatives from providing security for the election.

5 October 2024 – Fubara conducted local elections in the state where chairmanship candidates of APP won in 22 local councils in Rivers while Action Alliance won in one.

6 October 2024 – Fubara inaugurated chairpersons at Government House.

7 October 2024 – Police unsealed local government secretariats after four months.

8 October 2024 – Governor Fubara constituted a seven-man judicial panel of enquiry to investigate the cause of post-election violence and make recommendations for the state government.

10 October 2024 – The Court of Appeal in Abuja affirmed the nullification of Rivers 2024 budget. The appellate court affirmed pro-Wike lawmakers as the legitimate legislative authority in the state.

Governor Fubara filed an appeal at the Supreme Court, insisting the seats of the defected lawmakers remain vacant.

February 2025 – The Supreme Court restored Amaewhule’s position as the speaker, reinstated the others as legitimate members of the assembly, and nullified the local election organised by Fubara’s administration.

The lawmakers subsequently gave the governor 48 hours to re-present the budget.

The Governor had vowed to implement the order of the Supreme Court despite disagreeing with the verdict.

His efforts to re-present the budget were unsuccessful as the lawmakers denied him access to the assembly quarters last Wednesday.

On Monday, the battle took a new twist when 26 lawmakers served a notice of alleged misconduct against Governor Fubara and his deputy, Ngozi Odu.

The notice of misconduct against the duo marks a resumption of the impeachment plot against them.