Suspended Rivers State Governor, Sir Siminalayi Fubara, has responded to President Bola Tinubu’s accusations following the declaration of a state of emergency in the state on Tuesday, March 18.
In his nationwide broadcast, President Tinubu accused Fubara of undermining governance in Rivers, citing his alleged failure to rebuild the state’s House of Assembly complex after its demolition in December 2023.
The president also claimed the governor had allowed militants to threaten violence and vandalize oil pipelines without taking action.
Responding through his Chief Press Secretary, Nelson Chukwudi, Fubara debunked the allegations, insisting that the House of Assembly complex was already in the last stages of completion.
“There was also another claim that after destroying the Hallowed Chambers of the State House of Assembly on Moscow Road in Port Harcourt, the Governor did nothing to rebuild the facility,” the statement read.
Fubara explained that the government’s move to demolish the building was guided by professionals since the building was in a state of disrepair for decades.
He further explained that even then-Fomer Governor and current FCT Minister, Nyesom Wike, had earlier criticized its dilapidated state.
“Shortly after the October 29, 2023 accident, and expert evaluations, the government decided to rebuild the facility. The building is now nearly 80% complete,” he clarified.
On militancy, Fubara refused to accept allegations that he had ignored threats leveled by criminal factions against oil installations.
He declared that he had been calling for peace and safety on many occasions, citing his work in the Presidential Committee for the Protection of Oil Installations in the Niger Delta.
“Governor Fubara had nothing to do with threats by militants and did not ever ‘telegraph’ attacks that were alleged on oil platforms,” the statement emphasized.
He further cited that at a number of public events, among them the just-concluded formal transfer of an AW139 helicopter to the Nigerian Air Force, he had expressed his commitment towards safeguarding oil pipelines as well as maintaining stability in Rivers State.
Fubara attributed the escalating tensions in Rivers to a controversial remark made by Nyesom Wike, which was said to declassify the Ijaw people as politically irrelevant during a live media chat. He stated that the remark had attracted outrage from various Ijaw groups, leaders, and youths who demanded an apology that Wike refused to issue.
He continued to assert that Wike’s loyalists were the ones inciting violence in the state, while his own supporters remained calm even when provoked. The governor urged the security organizations to focus on who really sponsors violence in Rivers and not his government.
He recalled the October 5, 2024, local government election which he described as peaceful, only for Wike’s loyalists to later attack and burn council secretariats. It is also pertinent to call the focus of security agencies to the attention of the fact that LGAs in which such attacks were unleashed are the same venues that have continued to be sites of violence perpetrated by detractors of Governor Fubara’s government,” the release went on.
Fubara reiterated his commitment to peace, good governance, and economic development in Rivers State and said his government had continued to support security agencies with the provision of vehicles, gunboats, helicopters, and infrastructure as needed.
It is quite untrue that one who has preached peace and non-violence all along, even in the presence of provocation of the most extreme kind, would be ‘telegraphing attacks on oil pipelines’ and betraying the peace he has so assiduously cultivated,” he concluded.
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