Anyone who has been following keenly, developments in the country under the leadership of President Muhammadu Buhari, will not be surprised why ‘change’ has remained in the realm of promise, and has not followed the natural curve, one year after the All Progressives Congress (APC) came to power.
You may also not be surprised to find why anger and frustration are eating deep into many Nigerians like acid. And, you ask the question: why is it that what has worked for other countries practicing the same democracy, has not really worked for Nigeria?
The answers are not far-fetched. They can be located partly in the nature of our politics, and what our politicians have made of it. You can also not divorce the reckless Executive use of power to hound perceived enemies as perhaps the bigger problem that has made ‘change’ hard to come. If you are in doubt, the ceaseless grand conspiracy to destablise Rivers state is something we must be concerned about.
I want to believe that the Presidency is making the most of its strength without overdoing it. One will like to be proved wrong that Mr. President is taking the advice of people who mean well for the country and is not applying or instigating agencies of government against some states not under its control. In the last one week, at least, the governor of Rivers state, Chief Nyesome Wike, has cried out loud that “there is a grand conspiracy against Rivers state. But I don’t know in whose interest. I believe in the unity of this country. Therefore, I will continue to work for its development and security”.
Though Wike did not mention the names of those behind such a plot, he claimed that deliberate steps had been taken in recent times to undermine the security of the state. Many people believe the governor is not crying wolf. Wike and many indigenes of the state have a proof of evidence to support their claim that indeed, plots are afoot to “destabilize Rivers”.
These are the emerging plots: Two weeks ago, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission said it has uncovered the withdrawal of over N11bn from Rivers state Government’s account between October, 2015 and February 2016. The amount was allegedly withdrawn from the State Government’s account with the Central Bank of Nigeria. It was allegedly withdrawn by the Director of Finance and Administration, Government House, Mr. Kingsley Fubara, in cash.
That’s not all. The anti-graft agency has also alleged that there was a transfer of another N1.5bn from the state’s account with CBN to a top bank in the country that belongs to one “Mr. Samuel Anya” in January this year. EFCC sources described such withdrawals as “suspicious”. The suspicious withdrawals were done in tranches, EFCC alleges.
That’s EFCC version. But, truth has many sides. In the past week, Wike’s government has refuted the allegations as untrue, unfounded, a salacious publication with one aim in mind: to hoodwink the public and scandalize the state government, without any “verifiable facts”. This is the position of the state government, which was stoutly defended by its Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice, Emmanuel C. Aguma, SAN.
Describing the allegations as “wild”, Mr. Aguma said that the anti-graft agency would be overreaching itself since, according to him, it does not have the powers to investigate the finances of the state. He cited two subsisting judgments of the High Court of Rivers state and the Federal High Court that bar the EFCC, from investigating the finances of Rivers state. The question is: does EFCC really have the power under the constitution to investigate the finances of a state government? Lawyers insist the agency does not have such power. Such power rests with the State House of Assembly under section 125 subsections (2), 5 and (6) of the 1999 Constitution, on matters pertaining to the funds laid before it by the Auditors-General  Audit Report.
Also, under section 128 and 129 of the 1999 constitution, it’s the House of Assembly of a state that is vested with the power to superintend or police all funds of the state and “to expose corruption and waste in the management of public and consolidated revenue funds of a state”.
Those duties are exclusively reserved for the state legislature. So, why is EFCC doing this knowing it has no power under our constitution over public and consolidated revenue funds of any state, including that of Rivers State? This is why people are raising  eyebrows that this could be a carefully, orchestrated grand plot to cause trouble in Rivers State, a state that has already seen enough bloodbath in recent times.
This is also why many people are alleging unseen hands in the whole alleged conspiracy. Last week, many concerned citizens spoke about this fresh simmering crisis in Rivers State. Apart from the Governor, many stakeholders from Rivers state, among them, former Deputy National Chairman of PDP, Chief Uche Secondus called on the President to come out with strategies that will solve the many problems facing the country, rather than create more “battle fronts” that will worsen the problems already confronting the nation. Secondus alleges that under the APC-led administration, the country has become a “whole theatre of acrimony”, with agitations across the different ethnic groups in the country.
Indeed, there are enough ‘yellow cards’, telling the Federal Government to be very circumspect so that no part of the country, or state, will feel unfairly treated simply because it does not belong to the ruling party at the centre.
I see what’s happening in Wike’s Rivers state as an extension of the last election that APC lost. I had said in this column in the aftermath of the rerun elections in Rivers state early this year that the “war against Wike would be waged on multiple fronts. “The gameplan is that if one plot fails, try another”. I said that, as a result of the lamentation of APC National Chairman, Chief John Oyegun that the party (APC) “feels pained” by the loss of three oil rich states, Akwa Ibom, Bayelsa and Rivers states. Since after the election, the Secretary to the state government Mr. Kenneth Kobani was charged to court, in addition to the aide to the governor, Mr. Cyril Dum Wite.
But people are asking: must APC take any state by force or through unproven allegation to actualize what it could not get through the ballot box? I think President Buhari should be more foresighted not to allow any politician deceive him in the complex politics of Rivers state. He resisted pressures last time to declare State of Emergency in Rivers. He earned our trust, and will still do, if he remains statesman-like this time around. He should take the advice of people that mean well for the country and Rivers State, and allow rule of law to take precedence over partisan politics.

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