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… Congratulates Tinubu on the Declaration
By Godwin Chukwumaechi, Port Harcourt
The Rivers State chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) led by Chief Tony Okocha has reacted to the Monday night declaration of state of emergency in the state by President Bola Tinubu.
In the reaction conveyed via a letter to the President and made available to Nigerian Tribune in Port Harcourt on thursday, the Okocha led APC, which has been very critical of the Fubara administration described the action as “clearly the best of all possible decisions to checkmate the brewing circumstances of economic sabotage and general anomie that were trickling and bedeviling the peace in Rivers State”.
He recalled how at the beginning of the political crisis the President intervened by convening a meeting of stakeholders in the State House, Abuja that produced an 8-point peace proclamation which, according to him suspended Governor Fubara willingly endorsed.
He also recalled how on return to Port Harcourt, “a thespian drama” ensued where “elders who should have drummed for peace latching on the veritable ground provided by the meeting in the State House”, instead, counseled the governor never to accept the wise counsel of the President.
“Worse still”, Okocha alleged; “they went to court to seek a declaration that Mr. President’s decision was political, not constitutional. In all this route, the governor was the mastermind and financier”.
He also accused Governor Fubara of “watching through the sordid path of denigration and abuse of Mr. President with his snide comments which enlivened his cronies in the garb of elders.
He pointed how as a party, the APC took out airtimes in both traditional and new media to urge the governor and his hatchet men to refrain from the ceaseless obnoxious attacks on Mr. President, whose only offense was the intention to return peace and tranquility in Rivers State; and how the efforts failed “because of the deep-seated penchant of Governor Fubara, whose deliberate intention was to show off Mr. President as weak and inconsequential”.
The letter went on to catalogue how Fubara; “utterly disregarded and disrespected the Rule of Law and carried on with impunity under the guise of immunity clause section 308 and chose the orders of the Court/judicial pronouncements to obey”, making reference to some court judgments and orders which the suspended governor refused to comply with, among others sins.
The APC went on to say; ”Your Excellency, we saw the zest in you to have the self inflicted Rivers State political imbroglio resolved. For the second time, during the visit with you by the PANDEF, you alluded to the Rivers State case and urged the leaders to help in the realization and implementation of the Rule of Law and specifically the judgment delivered by the Supreme Court on the 28th of February, 2025.
“Despite the Presidential counsel, Rivers State became a beehive of activities for nonstate actors who boasted openly to bomb pipelines and strangulate the nation’s economy and engage in lawlessness should Governor Fubara be impeached.
“We thought that it was an empty threat. They made good their boast by bombing and destroying crucial pipelines in Rivers State.
“Kidnapping, robbery and blocking of major highways returned in droves. Governor Fubara did absolutely nothing to restore normalcy to a now fledgling state that he governed”.
It further told the President; “Your Excellency, your decision for a State of Emergency in Rivers State is rather painful, but critically examining the evolving scenarios, we can’t but welcome the timeous decision.
“An elder doesn’t sit to watch a goat deliver her baby on tethers’ (African proverb).
“It’s painful to us because we laboured to get electoral victories in Rivers State in both 25th February 2023 (presidential election), which was an unprecedented political landmark and 18th March, 2023 (governorship).
“We are satisfied with Mr. President’s decision for the State of Emergency in Rivers State. It was timeous. We heard the drumbeat of war and ethnicisation of a political imbroglio.
“The atmosphere in Rivers State became quaky so fast because of the unfortunate turn of event.
“We congratulate Mr. President for the declaration of State of Emergency in Rivers State. It is utilitarian to the extent that it brought succour and happiness to the greatest number of Rivers people”.
The party also congratulated the Sole Administrator, Vice Amiral Ibok Ette Iba, (rtd) whom it described as square peg Sole administrator and whose pedigree in administration and scintillating service to our nation speak volumes.
“As a party of decorous and law abiding citizens of Rivers State/Nigeria, we declare in advance, our unalloyed support and determination to work with him towards the realization of Mr. President’s good intentions”.
