Contrary to the expectations that peace will return to Rivers State after the 8-point agreement signed by different parties in Abuja, the state, rich in oil and gas deposits is still boiling.
It would be recalled that the governor of Rivers State, Sir Sim Fubara was invited to Abuja only to discover that a mini-coup has been hatched in readiness for his coming.
It is not yet entirely clear what transpired but some not too comfortable resolution had been prepared waiting for the signatures of the warring factions.
The resolutions that were agreed to for peace to return were as follows:
All matters instituted in the courts by Governor Fubara and his team shall be withdrawn immediately. All impeachment proceedings should be dropped immediately. The House as led by Martins Amaechule shall be recognized alongside the 27 members who resigned from the PDP. The remuneration and benefits of all members must be reinstated immediately and the Governor of Rivers State shall henceforth not interfere with the full funding of the Assembly. The Assembly shall choose where they want to sit and conduct their legislative business without interference.
Other resolutons are that, Fubara shall re-present the state budget to a properly constituted House. The names of all commissioners who resigned should be resubmitted to the House for approval. There should not be a caretaker committee for the 23 Local Government Areas of Rivers State.
Many stakeholders have expressed fears that these resolutions were crafted to favour the Minister of the FCT, Chief Barrister Nyesom Wike.
Those who signed the resolutions were, Governor Sim Fubara, Chief Nyesom Wike, the deputy governor, Prof. Ngozi Odu, National Security Adviser (NSA) Mallam Nuhu Ribadu, Martins Amaewhule, Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) chairman, Aaron Chukwuemeka and All Progressives Congress (APC) Caretaker Committee Chairman, Chief Tony Okocha and Governor Peter Odili.
A lot of angry reactions have poured out in the state regarding the purported signing of the Directives for the resolution of the political impasse in Rivers State by the state governor.
The people of Ogu/Bolo led by former lawmaker, Evans Bipi have stated categorically that they dissociate themselves totally from the contents of the 8-point agreement titled directives for the Resolution of the political impasse in Rivers State.
Evans Bipi, who was the Chief Whip of the previous State House of Assembly, reiterated that Governor Sim Fubara is the authentic leader of the PDP in the state and should be respected as such. In a communique, the Ogu/Bolo Local Government Area in its entirety rejected the 27 former House of Assembly members and also condemned the Abuja 8-Point communique.
They stated unequivocally that “the recalcitrant former 25 House of Assembly members who were diametrically opposed to Governor Sim Fubara should be ejected from their residential quarters.
Former commissioner for Water Resources in Rivers State, Hon. David Briggs claims that Governor Sim Fubara was threatened and subdued with presidential power, a situation which compelled himto sign te controversial document.
On Friday, December 22 2023, protesters from the 23 local government areas, civil society organizations, student union groups, the Hausa community, the Ijaw Youth Council, blocked the gate of the Government House demanding that the governor came out to address them on the merit and outcome of the notorious 8-Point agenda. In one voice, they unilaterally condemned the resolutions that were drawn up in Abuja, describing them as kangaroo resolutions that cannot stand.
The massive crowd insisted that Rt. Hon. Edison Ehie is their authentic Speaker and they do not recognize the leadership of Martins Amaechule who had inadvertently vacated his seat by cross-carpeting to the All Progressives Congress, APC from the PDP, the party on whose wings he and his co-travellers rode on to attain power.
A political stalwart who preferred to be anonymous shed light on the dynamics of the 8-Point agenda, midwifed by President Bola Tinubu.
He took a swipe at Governor Sim Fubara for continuing with the Abuja meeting when he saw that the dramatic personae were all hand-picked APC members or those who were romancing openly with the party.
He asked, “Why did Governor Fubara, who is the leader of PDP not walk out of the Abuja meeting when he sighted the State PDP Chairman, Aaron Chukwuemeka at the Abuja meeting?. At whose instance was Aaron Chukwuemeka sitting in the meeting? Who invited Aaron Chukwuemeka to that meeting? The political stalwart expected Governor Sim Fubara who had the privileges, of immunity to tell President Tinubu frontally that he didn’t realize it was a full home and that by virtue of the sensitivity and the volatile nature of the matters at hand, he needs to bring his inner team or caucus to accompany him and study the resolutions before signing. Instead of all these Governor Sim Fubara signed the lopsided resolutions that were crafted to favour the FCT Minister, Chief Nyesom Wike and his group.
As if in response to these gaping questions, all manner of groups, representing one interest, or community have been paying solidarity visits to Governor Sim Fubara.
An Obio/Akpor group who came on a solidarity visit to Governor Sim Fbara disowned their son, the FCT minister, insisting that Obio/Akpor has had the privilege of governing the state for eight years and that whatever the FCT minister is doing, he is on a frolic of his own. They threw their weight behind the governor and gave him their full blessings.
Meanwhile, constitutional lawyer and human rights activist, Chief Femi Falana has said that the 24 members of the Rivers state House of Assembly who recently defected from the Peoples Democratic Party to the All Progressives Congress, and whose seats were declared vacant, did not get sound legal advice before they cross carpeted.
Femi Falana recalled a previous instance in which the 20 legislators in Cross River State who defected from the PDP to the APC had their seats declared vacant by the court. “That is the law and unless the Supreme Court decides to change it, that is the law in Nigeria today. It is also a good development, a good law, it is a good interpretation that there should be no political prostitution in the country because it is tantamount to political immorality, if you contest on the platform of a political party and you abandon your luck by contesting again under the new political party,” he said.
On the issue of the formation or constitution of caretaker committee members at the various LGAs, political activists reminded the Wike faction that for eight years, the former Plateau State governor Simon Lalong, worked with only caretaker committees for eight years and it was an APC state.
When our roving reporter went round town to do a vox-populi, the masses or people on the street were insistent that the Martins Amaewhule led faction had lost their legitimacy having defected to the APC.
When this reporter brought up the issue of the sitting of the Martins Amaewhule faction where they dropped the initial impeachment charges against the governor, they all voiced their anger and claimed that it was a kangaroo sitting lacking morality and legitimacy since a court of competent jurisdiction had declared their seats vacant and declared Rt. Hon. Edison Ehi as the authentic Speaker of the state House of Assembly.
A cross-section of lawyers interviewed on the 8-Point communique signed in Abuja, insist that it is only advisory and exhortatory. It has no backing or sanction of law. Rather, what holds weight and cannot be tampered with are the judicial pronouncements from a competent court of jurisdiction on the matter.
