GOVERNOR Sim Fubara has activated Plan B in Rivers State crisis, which will see him take total control of the state and wade off loyalists of former Governor Nyesom Wike, sources close to his government told Economy Post.
As Fubara activates his plan, Nigeria’s President, Mr Bola Ahmed Tinubu, has stressed his neutrality in Rivers State crisis, stating that he will neither take sides nor allow any attempt by anybody to frustrate the state government.
Meanwhile, Economy Post learnt that the camp of former Rivers State Governor and current Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Minister, Mr Nyesom Wike, is unsettled as they anticipate some losses in the matter, particularly on the part of the House of Assembly.
READ ALSO: Exclusive: Fubara eyes ‘Obaseki strategy’ for 27 lawmakers as Rivers economy struggles
Mr Fubara and Mr Wike are fighting for the control of Rivers State political structures. Their collision has led to the defection of 25 members of the Rivers State House of Assembly from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the All Progressives Congress (APC). It also led to the incineration of the state House of Assembly complex in Port Harcourt in October 2023.
Sim Fubara’s strategy
According to two current commissioners of the state, Mr Fubara is initiating plans to remove Wike’s loyalists from all the levels of government in the state. Where they are allowed to stay in power, they will be deployed to positions where their influence cannot be felt.
Mr Fubara is also planning to remove all the agents deployed by the former governor to win elections and will replace them with less known but more loyal agents across the state. This will involve councillors, local government advisers and liaison officers appointed by Wike.
Mr Wike had appointed 200,000 special advisers and 319 ward liaison officers for various political units in the state in October and November 2022 while fighting the PDP Presidential candidate, Mr Atiku Abubakar, in 2023 to consolidate his control in the state.
READ ALSO: Non-existing office spends N80 million to promote Tinubu’s ‘economic milestones’
Though the usefulness of these officers has wilted due to the conclusion of the 2023 presidential election and the exit of Mr Wike, Governor Fubara is planning to select news sets of people who will play similar roles for him, provide information on the activities of antigovernmental forces while ensuring he is returned to power in 2027.
“The government is now more strengthened to consolidate power, seeing that the president is not in full support of the former governor,” said a commissioner, who pleaded anonymity because he was not authorised to speak on the matter.
President claims neutrality
Meanwhile, President Tinubu has claimed he is neither in support of the two camps involved in Rivers State crisis.
Speaking on a television programme monitored in Abuja weekend, Special Adviser on Media and Publicity to the President, Ajuri Ngelale, said Mr Tinubu was not ready to take sides with either camp in the Rivers Stet crisis.
READ ALSO: Rivers State earns N55bn from transport tax but less than 1% goes into government purse
“I believe that anyone who believes that by their actions, whether it is from the federal level, state level or the legislative branch in the state or the executive branch in the state, if they are banking on Mr. President to take sides on this matter, they are mistaking and they will be disappointed,” Ngelale said, as reported by Arise TV.
“Mr. President will not do that. What he will do is to ensure that everybody has what they need in order to work. He will also ensure that any attempt to frustrate the operation of the Rivers State Government in conducting its affairs in a way that it would benefit the Rivers people, that is obviously not going to be allowed by this president or anybody else,” he said.
Wike’s camp unsettled
Economy Post gathered that Wike’s camp is unsettled by opinions of lawyers who have advised them to be cautious, given that members of the group in the Rivers State House of Assembly who decamped from the PDP to APC might have lost their seats.
On Sunday, Senior Lawyer, Mr Femi Falana (SAN), said Rivers State House of Assembly members who decamped to the APC from the PDP had lost their positions.”
“The 25 lawmakers who defected have lost their seats. They have lost their rights to remain members of the assembly,” Mr Falana said in a Channels TV programme, “Politics Today.”
READ ALSO: Like Buhari, Tinubu wastes billions of taxpayers money on foreign trips, cars, leisure
“In the case of Adetunde and the Labour Party, the Supreme Court made it clear that you cannot decamp and then remain a member of a legislative house in Nigeria unless you can show that there is a division in your party. Today, the PDP is one,” he noted.
Those close to the Wike camp told Economy Post that members of the Rivers State House of Assembly are jittery and some are regretting decamping to the opposition party in the state due to the uncertainty hanging around their positions.
“It has turned out to be a political miscalculation by them,” one of the loyalists to Wike told this newspaper. No one knows what the courts will rule but several lawyers have said they might lose their seats.
“Again, with the President feigning neutrality, the minister may now be more careful fighting this battle, which is a minus to the cause,” the source said.
