A Hollow Ritual And The Tragedy Of State Capture

It was General Charles De Gaulle, who said that politics is too serious a matter to be left to politicians.
What was orchestrated as a serious security and political crisis that necessitated the imposition of an emergency rule in Rivers State on March 18th, 2025 has finally turned out to be costly cover-up for a private disagreement between two politicians – Chief Nyesom Wike, the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory and Mr. Siminalayi Fubara, the suspended Governor of Rivers State, who were godfather and godson in the 2023 general election.
The two men now appear to have settled their differences after mediation by President Bola Tinubu, and have decided not to continue their argument or let it spill into the public domain again. As far as they are concerned, peace has returned to Rivers State. Last Friday, to clear every doubt about their renewed love, Wike and Fubara like bride and bridegroom walked hand-in-hand to Wike’s hometown, Rumuepirikom in Port Harcourt to attend the burial of Wike’s uncle.
Fubara was to later in the day brief his supposed supporters on why he had to make the costly concessions for peace to reign. “There is no price that is too big for peace,” he had told the moody supporters in a crammed room.
What is now left, it appears, is for the state of emergency to be lifted and democratic governance restored to the state, where in the interim, Ibok-Ete Ibas, a retired navy general has been having a lackluster run since March 18th when he assumed duties. He has been running the state as if it is a private estate without any recourse to any consultation. He unilaterally dissolved democratic institutions lawfully set up and appointed impostors to administer the local governments, governing councils and boards of parastatals. The poor sanitation of the state capital and other towns speak volumes to the parlous of governance under the sole administrator.
What are the concessions Fubara made to let peace reign? He would not seek reelection; he would pay the arrears of salaries and entitlements of members of the House of Assembly that had not worked since the crisis began in October 2023 (including the period of the emergency rule when they were officially on suspension); he would concede to letting former local government chairmen and councilors, who supported Wike during the crisis to seek reelection; and he would not allow political opponents of Wike access to Government House.
The import of the strange settlement is a state capture where one man who is not elected by the people controls the affairs of the state both at the state and local governments.
In all of these, there was no mention of the corporate interest of the state. Everything was about the private and political interests of the parties, albeit unconstitutional and unlawful commitments that not only violate the rights of citizens to seek public office but administer government office according to democratic principles.
The losses the state had during the period that the crisis lasted were humongous. Major projects like the Port Harcourt Ring and Trans-Kalabari road, which government had committed huge resources were halted. The already completed process of employing 10,000 young graduates by the state government was cancelled. Those young graduates remain unemployed and have been joined by thousands of other young people that graduated in the intervening period. The main building of the House of Assembly complex was brought down, and is now being rebuilt with N19 billion. The governing councils of the universities and other institution of higher learning in the state were dissolved, making it difficult for crucial policies and decisions of the institutions to be approved.
Developments at the local government levels were also halted following the removal of duly elected council chairmen and councilors. Appointed in their place are administrators, who are barred from executing capital projects. The worst of it is that the budget of the state was hijacked by undemocratic elements, who have been arbitrarily spending the state’s money without any oversight from the people.
What to do? Let there be immediate restoration of all democratic structures and institutions that were dissolved at the onset of the emergency rule; elections should be conducted to fill elective offices at the local government and the House of Assembly; and the budget of the state be resubmitted to the Rivers State House of Assembly for vetting and appropriation by the representatives of the people of the state.
The citizens of the state and indeed all lovers of democracy must stand up and demand that democracy be restored to the state, where the people will have the right to elect their representatives and governments and hold them to account for their stewardship. Those who ran the affairs of the state during the crisis and emergency rule must be held to account of their tenure and the resources they deployed during the period.