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• Stakeholders, residents counsel governor on unity, inclusivity
From Tony John, Port Harcourt
The reinstatement of Governor Siminalayi Fubara and his deputy, Professor Ngozi Odu as well as members of the House of Assembly after six months of the imposition of a state of emergency in Rivers State, has expectedly elicited joy in people in Rivers State who had yearned for it.
President Bola Tinubu, who imposed the state of emergency on March 18, 2025, lifted it on September 17, 2025, thereby allowing the restoration of full democratic governance.
With his return to the driver’s seat of directing the affairs of Rivers State, which prides itself as the “Treasure Base of the Nation,” stakeholders who spoke with Sunday Sun expressed optimism that Fubara will recover the fast-paced governance momentum that had propelled the achievements he recorded in less two years from 2023, and which endeared him to the people.
On the day he officially resumed work penultimate Friday, Fubara received a rousing welcome, with many people screaming his name in joy, excitement and hope of better days ahead. Notwithstanding the warm and affectionate reception, a good number of Rivers people are concerned that the governor might not be able do much for the state because his executive powers might have been caged as precondition for his reinstatement.
A renowned constitutional and human rights lawyer, Chief Festus Ogwuche, who spoke with Sunday Sun described Fubara as “a real deal” for the state based on governance parameters.
He said: “Fubara is the real deal for the people of Rivers State if he’s measured on the proper scale of governance parameters. His simple and humble demeanour apart, he came with an unqualified enthusiasm, not to rule, but to govern with noble and honest intentions, and he went about it with utmost zest. Indeed, he made governance look like rolling a circular mill down the slopes – effortlessly and with less of fanfare, pomp and pageantry as is the character of Nigeria’s ruling elite.”
Ogwuche stressed that Fubara’s capacity is unquestionable, noting that he displayed it in the midst of the traps and banana peels that were set for him by his political traducers. “Fortunately, he triumphed in all the many battles that confronted him almost immediately he was sworn into office.
“Obviously, he had a programme and policy founded on solid accomplishments on the development index, and he went about attaining them with clockwork precision. In the later days prior to his suspension, he went about launching one programme after another. I seriously pray that he does not deviate from the path and standards he had defined for himself no matter what under any circumstances.”
The Port Harcourt-based legal practitioner, however, conceded that a change from the noble path is likely.
“We don’t know the content of the peace settlement he made with President Bola Tinubu and Minister of Federal Capital Territory, FCT, Nyesom Wike. And it is presumed to be such that would encroach on the finances of the state going by our understanding of the influence of godfathers in the context of Nigerians politics. But then, we expect that Fubara should, in his usual respectful manner, explain this to the people of Rivers State who stood gallantly for him in his trying days.”
Ogwuche advised the governor to continue with his zero tolerance for corruption and ensure that the “hawks that were imposed upon him as appointees” do not loot the treasury dry.
He emphasized that it is the governor’s duty to ensure that the finances of the state do not get frittered by unscrupulous and gluttonous politicians.
Speaking too, Mr. Emmanuel Obe, a veteran journalist, said: “Though Governor Siminalayi Fubara came in on a not too popular note, he soon began to get the support of the people with several popular projects and programmes.
“Civil servants welcomed him warmly because he was part of them before he resigned to contest for governorship and the first place he visited after his swearing in was the state secretariat complex where he was welcomed with a lot of applause.
“Given that his predecessor virtually abandoned the welfare of civil servants in terms of promotions, payment of promotion arrears and beefing up the civil service with employment, many civil servants expected Fubara to do something in that area. He made promises to rehabilitate the secretariat and supply power.
“Before he came in, a process of massive employment of civil servants had started and he sustained it. He continued with approval of promotions and settlement of the arrears of earned allowances and promotions.
“At Christmas in 2023, he made the civil servants happy with the payment of N100,000 Christmas bonus to every civil servant. He repeated the gesture in 2024.
“In the area of infrastructure, within the first month in office, he launched the ambitious Port Harcourt Ring Road project, which was to cost about N200 billion. He also started the Trans-Kalabari Road project and many internal and inter-local government projects. This kept the governor busy supervising and inspecting road projects.
“In the area of finance, the governor improved the internally generated revenue of the state above N20 billion a month, more than twice what the previous administration raised.”
Obe, however, noted that the governor had problems constituting the state executive council, as nomination of commissioners was coming in piecemeal.
“This was a sign that something was amiss within the government caucus. The employment of civil servants was on course until the end of October 2023, when the House of Assembly threatened him with impeachment, and that put paid to that process. The thousands of young people who had been documented to start work were left stranded until April, 2024, when the governor cancelled the entire process, citing overage applicants. But, it was suspected that it was because most of the beneficiaries came through his predecessor’s (Nyesom Wike’s) line-up.
“We expect that he should reconsider the employment of civil servants and continue with the ambitious infrastructure projects that were abandoned during the period of the state of emergency, when the erstwhile sole administrator presided over the governance of the state.
“He should also review the lopsided board appointments made by the emergency government and bring in sound people to run the companies, institutions and commissions.”
In his comments on the reactivation of democratic governance, Mr. Abraham Dukuma, a renowned journalist, recalled that upon assumption of office on May 29, 2023, Governor Fubara had hit the ground running.
Dukuma stated that the governor left no one in doubt that he was a game changer who was determined to take the development of Rivers State to an exponential level.
“He took the pragmatic initiative aimed at reviving long abandoned projects like the Songhai Integrated Farm in Tai Local Government Area of the state. He followed that giant step up by taking a step to resume work on the ambitious Greater Port Harcourt City Development Authority, among others.”
Dukuma said before the October 30, 2023 tragic drama that set off the debilitating crises that led to the declaration of the “ill-fated controversial state of emergency in an otherwise peaceful state, Governor Fubara’s performance was top-notch, progressive and focused. He was implementing people-oriented policies, programmes, projects and processes.”
His words: “On his resumption after the expiration of the illegal and unconditional state of emergency and subsequent lifting of the suspension on him, his deputy and lawmakers, he has raised the bar on his quest for peace, on which platform any genuine and achievable development can take place.
“If only the members of the Rivers State House of Assembly will give him the needed cooperation to work together for the peace, unity, progress, development and advancement of Rivers State, Governor Fubara will exceed his previous performance. He has visionary, proactive and patriotic plans for the transformation of Rivers State.”
But a chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC), in Rivers State, Chief Eze Chukwuemeka Eze, is worried about the effect that the suspension and emergency rule would have on the governor.
He asked rhetorically: “What agenda do you want to set for a man who has accepted to serve as a puppet to those who have humiliated him and made his state a laughing stock?
“I have stated in my earlier statement that we are looking forward to seeing two different types of Fubara assuming office. One, the Fubara that will be back to work out the agenda set for him by Tinubu and Wike, an agenda aimed at conquering the state politically and provide the means through which the common patrimony of the state will be looted and shared amongst her captors.
“The other is the Fubara that is coming to recover the state from the hands of those that have ridiculed it and assume office as the true, duly elected governor of the state.”
A chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the state and strong political ally of the former Minister of Transportation, Chibuike Amaechi, said that going by Fubara’s recent statement, after his reinstatement, where he acknowledged the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, as his leader, Rivers people should not expect much from him.
Eze bemoaned the fate of the people, saying: “But sadly, he has decided by his actions since he assumed office that he prefers to dine and dance with Tinubu and Wike. He has acknowledged Wike as his leader and Tinubu as his father. So, what agenda do you want me to set for such a governor, who has to act out the agenda that will be set out for him by Tinubu and Wike?
“One would have loved to answer your questions if we have a Fubara that has come to free the state from the hands of her captors but sadly the different is the case. The only wise thing for anybody in the state to do is to keep calm and be quiet and pray to God to rescue the state accordingly.”
