Will Fubara return as Rivers Governor? Anyone who believes that after six months, Tinubu will recall Fubara must be living in a fool’s paradise. That is definitely not Tinubu’s plan and it won’t happen unless he sees fire in the eyes of the people. If the idea was for Fubara to come back after six months, then there would have been no need for the state of emergency in the first place.
By Ikechukwu Amaechi
The question that continues to agitate many minds in Nigeria today is: Will Siminalayi Fubara return as the governor of Rivers State after serving out the six-month suspension imperiously slammed on him by President Bola Tinubu on Tuesday, March 18?
I have a hunch he won’t be reinstated by those who contemptuously and unconstitutionally shoved him off his high perch, unless Nigerians show proof that they will no longer tolerate the impunity of the Tinubu presidency as South Koreans did recently.
On June 3, South Korea will hold a snap presidential election to choose President Yoon Suk Yeol’s successor after the conservative leader was ousted over his imposition of martial law in December 2024. The announcement from acting President Han Duck-soo came four days after the country’s Constitutional Court – equivalent of Nigeria’s Supreme Court – unanimously removed Yoon from office.
Just like Tinubu’s narrow victory in the 2023 presidential election, the former president narrowly defeated Lee Jae-myung of the Democratic Party by less than a percentage point on March 9, 2022 and assumed office in May. Going by the country’s presidential term, which has been set at five years since 1988, he should be leaving office on May 10, 2027.
But like Tinubu did in Rivers State, the 64-year-old Yoon made an unprecedented power grab on December 3, 2024 when he declared martial law in South Korea, sending hundreds of soldiers and police officers to the National Assembly on the excuse that he sought to maintain order, a move which shocked all.
But hearkening to the admonition of John Philpot Curran, an Irish lawyer, who famously stated that “the condition upon which God hath given liberty to man is eternal vigilance” in a July 10, 1790 speech in Dublin, South Korean lawmakers, acutely aware that their president had just carried out a “coup” by taking actions “beyond the powers provided in the constitution,” indignantly stepped up to the legislative plate and the state of emergency and concomitant martial law only lasted about six hours. The parliament voted to block the decree.
Not even President Yoon’s excuse that martial law was needed to defend the country from nuclear-armed North Korea and protect free constitutional order could sway the piqued lawmakers, who voted to impeach him on December 14, 2024. In January, he was arrested and indicted by prosecutors for rebellion.
The hunter, having become the hunted, the disgraced president went to court to quash his impeachment. On Friday, April 4, South Korea’s apex court confirmed his dismissal and upheld his impeachment on the ground that he “violated his duty as Commander-in-Chief by mobilising troops” when he declared martial law.
Calling the former president’s action “a serious challenge to democracy,” Acting Chief Justice Moon Hyung-bae said, “(Yoon) committed a grave betrayal of the people’s trust.” Human Rights Watch concurred, calling the ruling a win for the country’s resilience, quest for human rights and democratic values.
In a message to South Koreans through his lawyers shortly after the ruling, a humbled Yoon apologised: “I am so sorry and regretful that I wasn’t able to live up to your expectations.”
Now, President Yoon failed in his gambit because the critical institutions of the Korean State – legislature and judiciary – held him to account.
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Contrast that with Tinubu’s impunity. On Tuesday, March 18, 2025, he exercised powers he does not have by imposing a state of emergency in Rivers State and suspending Governor Fubara, his deputy, Ngozi Odu, and all elected members of the House of Assembly for “an initial period of six months.” The implication is that if after the “initial period of six months,” Tinubu is not convinced that his ultimate goal has been achieved, he may well extend the suspension.
Tinubu said the decision was taken to restore stability in the state that has been witnessing political turmoil as a result of the disagreement between the governor and the lawmakers. But he was being economical with the truth, which is: Fubara’s disagreement is with his predecessor, Nyesom Wike, Minister of the Federal Capital Territory and Tinubu’s ally, and not with the lawmakers who are only pawns on the Rivers political chessboard.
Having successfully executed a coup d’état in the oil-rich state by the sudden and unlawful seizure of power from a democratically elected government with the apparent acquiescence of both the National Assembly and Supreme Court, Tinubu went ahead to unconstitutionally appoint former Chief of Naval Staff, Vice Admiral Ibok-Ette Ibas (retd.) as the sole administrator and sent hundreds of soldiers and police officers out on the streets of Port Harcourt. On Wednesday, March 19, Tinubu stretched the illegality when he swore in Ibas at Aso Rock cheered by his Attorney General and Minister of Justice, Prince Lateef Fagbemi.
Although the president claims that his action was informed by the security situation in Rivers and the need to forestall a total breakdown of law and order, no one knows what mandate he gave Ibas. Meanwhile, to consolidate power, the sole administrator appointed a serving Naval Officer, Commodore Aminu Shehu, as his Chief of Staff.
Since then, he has been systemically and diligently dismantling all the institutions of governance in Rivers. Having been given all the money accruing to the state government contrary to Supreme Court order, the sole administrator proposed a fresh budget. Last week, he suspended all heads of MDAs and dissolved their boards with immediate effect. He also cancelled all pending procurement and tender processes. Then, on April 9, he announced the reconstitution of some of the boards, populating them with Wike’s loyalists.
It is laughable that the same Ibas who claimed the cancellation of all pending procurements became necessary following the Supreme Court judgment and the absence of an appropriation law, and even went as far as directing all MDAs that carried out such tender processes for projects to immediately refund such fees to the contractors, has been spending the billions of naira Tinubu is throwing on his laps without appropriation.
He has also appointed sole administrators to take charge of the 23 local government areas and reconstituted the Rivers State Independent Electoral Commission (RISIEC) with Dr. Michael Odey as Chairman. These appointments were announced barely 24 hours after a Federal High Court sitting in Port Harcourt restrained him from doing so.
Truth be told, right now, there is no transparency in the handling of Rivers State resources. What is happening is tantamount to stealing the people’s patrimony. Meanwhile, as Tinubu disingenuously blames Fubara for all the crisis, quarantining him in Port Harcourt, Wike, the real villain is having a ball. This week, he hosted the suspended lawmakers to a lavish dinner in the United Kingdom.
So, as the days roll by and the sole administrator continues to consolidate power on behalf of those who sent him on the unsavory mission, the question that is concentrating many minds is: what happens after six months?
I am amused that some Nigerians are actually surprised at the sole administrator’s conduct. The truth is that he is never, as envisioned by the Dalai Lama, “a force for good” whose actions are inspired by a genuine concern for others. The idea of a sole administrator became tempting for Tinubu and Wike when the first option which was to use the House of Assembly to impeach both Fubara and his deputy failed. And it failed because the Rivers State Chief Judge, Justice Simeon Chibuzor Amadi, whose responsibility it is, as outlined in Section 188 of the 1999 Constitution, to appoint a seven-member panel to investigate the allegations against the governor refused to be arm-twisted. Had Justice Amadi acquiesced to the bullying, there wouldn’t have been need for a state of emergency. Fubara would have been sacked constitutionally.
And to justify the declaration, pipelines had to go up in flames with Fubara, who does not even control the police officers posted to Rivers Government House, as the fall guy. President Tinubu is the country’s chief security officer and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces. Security of lives and property is the exclusive remit of his office. So, why punish Fubara for a dereliction of duty that falls within the presidential purview? In any case, is it not possible that those behind the two alleged attacks on oil pipelines prior to the declaration of the state of emergency were the same forces who declared the emergency? Why has there been no investigations since the explosions served their purpose?
So, those who appointed Vice Admiral Ibas sole administrator of Rivers neither meant well for this much-abused country nor the survival of its constitutional democracy. His appointment, as has been globally acclaimed is illegal. Is it therefore any surprise that his actions, particularly the appointments he is making are patently illegal?
As Mr. Mohammed Abeny, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), rightly noted when the news of the appointment of sole administrators for the 23 local governments broke on Wednesday, “Apart from the subsisting court order which he has wilfully and recklessly flouted, Vice Admiral Ibas has also disobeyed the apex court’s various judgments declaring the appointment of administrators to run local governments as illegal and unconstitutional.”
A full panel of the Supreme Court, delivering a landmark judgment on July 11, 2024, in a suit which was ironically filed by this same Tinubu administration, unanimously affirmed the financial autonomy of Nigeria’s 774 local government councils and frowned against the use of unelected officials to govern at the third tier of government. And when Edo State Governor Monday Okpebholo suspended elected chairmen, Fagbemi called him out. But the same Attorney-General has kept mute in the face of Tinubu’s illegalities.
Going forward, I foresee the sole administrator hurriedly conducting local government elections that will be “won” by Wike’s surrogates. The idea is to hand back the grassroots to the former governor preparatory to the 2027 elections.
Does Fubara have a blame in all this? I believe he does but for a different reason altogether. I blame him for given up without a fight. As the saying goes, in a lawless society, it is criminal to be law abiding. Granted, he is a reluctant governor, but having been railroaded into the position, it was criminal of him not to have asserted himself when Tinubu came calling. If the suspension was illegal, then why obey it? Tinubu, as a governor, wouldn’t have obeyed any president’s illegality.
It would have been obvious to Fubara that he was the sole target. The inclusion of the 27 lawmakers was just a smokescreen. And anyone who believes that after six months, Tinubu will recall Fubara must be living in a fool’s paradise. That is definitely not Tinubu’s plan and it won’t happen unless he sees fire in the eyes of the people. If the idea was for Fubara to come back after six months, then there would have been no need for the state of emergency in the first place. If at all he comes back, it will only be because the impeachment plot has been firmed up with cast-iron guarantees and a Chief Judge that will deliver just as the sole administrator is delivering.
Nigerians must brace up for the battles ahead. It is not about Fubara but our collective freedoms that Tinubu and his enablers have sworn to take away. The Rivers State governor is only but a metaphor. If he goes down as Tinubu and Wike have plotted, then we are all dead men walking. The state capture project must have been completed, with our patrimony to boot. In South Korea, the institutions of state did the job on behalf of the people. In Nigeria, those same institutions – National Assembly and Judiciary – are criminally compromised. As it is, the only thing that can bring Fubara back to power and restore our collective dignity is the people’s righteous anger.
