Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Minister and ex-governor of Rivers State, Nyesom Wike, has defended Governor Siminalayi Fubara’s no appearance in the Government House on Thursday following the elapse of the emergency rule in the state.
Speaking on Channels TV’s Politics Today, Wike dismissed criticisms that government is anchored on a governor’s physical appearance at the office.
There is no law that he must return today. He is a governor. I do not know how we do things. I swore in today, for example, it doesn’t imply I would go to work tomorrow. You do not know what my programmes are, you do not know what the governor has to do, you do not know where he,” Wike asserted.
He added: “Governance does not necessarily mean you must be in the office governing, no, it is not like that. Do you know if he is in Abuja doing something or another?”
Wike disclosed that he spoke with Fubara on Wednesday before he departed for Abuja and was informed that the governor would return to Rivers on Thursday. Questioned whether he had reconciled with his successor following months of political tension, Wike responded: “I don’t speak to someone who I have not forgiven.”
Rivers State was under emergency rule since March, due to violent protests, legislative crises, and instability that erupted from the Wike-Fubara feud. President Bola Tinubu had named Rear Admiral Ibok-Ete Ibas (retd.) Sole Administrator in an attempt to bring order for six months.
On Thursday, Ibas returned power formally to Governor Fubara, declaring that “law and order had been restored.”
But hundreds of the supporters who had come in droves to the Government House in Port Harcourt to receive him warmly were left disappointed as Fubara failed to appear. Some of them had been at the venue since 6 a.m. and waited for hours, but were dispersing at noon once it became clear he would not be there.
