• Five pro-Wike commissioners quit Fubara’s cabinet
• Decision to probe Wike led to gale of resignations, group explains
• Elder statesman seeks Ameachi, Odili’s support for Fubara
• Kukah: Fubara, Wike will fix their quarrels
• Fubara resorting to self-defence — Bwala
• Abe realigns with Wike, says Amaechi non-relevant in Rivers APC 

Barely two weeks to Fubara’s first anniversary in office, governance appears to have taken a flight out of Rivers State as the oil-rich state is enmeshed in a foxy and brutal war between Governor Siminalayi Fubara and his predecessor, Nyesom Wike, now serving as the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory.

Yesterday, five commissioners serving in the cabinet of Fubara resigned from the Rivers State Executive Council. They are Prof. Chinedu Mmom (Education), Dr. Gift Worlu (Housing), Austen Ben-Chioma (Environment), Inime Aguma (Social Welfare), and Jacobson Nbina (Transport), who are all loyal to Wike.

They were among the nine commissioners who had previously resigned in the heat of the political crisis in the state before the intervention of President Bola Tinubu. Their resignations came 24 hours after Fubara slammed his predecessor and estranged political godfather, accusing him of leaving a huge debt burden for him.

The five commissioners tendered their resignations in separate letters addressed to the governor through the Secretary to the State Government, Dr Tammy Danagogo.

Mmom’s letter read: “I write to formally tender my resignation as a member of the Rivers State Executive Council as the Commissioner for Education with effect from today, May 15, 2024.

“It is a truism that a calm, safe, and friendly environment would stimulate efficient service delivery and enhanced productivity. It is, however, unfortunate to note that my current workspace has become toxic and no longer guarantees a favourable environment to enable me to realise my set targets for the education sector in the state. There is loss of trust, animosity and sharp division among colleagues in the same cabinet which is unhealthy and very unfortunate.”

Moments later, Ben-Chioma forwarded his letter dated May 15. He noted that his reason for resigning was because of the political crisis in the state.

Similarly, Worlu in his letter dated May 15, said: “I write to resign my appointment as the Commissioner for Housing formally. One of the most difficult decisions in my life yet, it is precipitated by the toxic atmosphere that has characterised our working relationship, especially the smouldering arbitrariness of decisions and actions, including the attempt to fuse the executive and legislative arms of government in Rivers State.”

Also, Nbina, in his letter dated May 15, wrote: “I write to formally tender my resignation as Commissioner for Transport. It has been a privilege to serve in this capacity, and thank Your Excellency for the opportunity to serve our state, which I served dutifully and meritoriously,” the former Transport commissioner added.

Aguma, in her letter, said she was resigning in pursuant to the current inconducive working environment in the governor’s administration.

Before the quintet of Mmom, Worlu, Aguma, Nbina, and Ben-Chioma, others who resigned were the former Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice, Prof Zacchaeus Adangor, and former Commissioner for Finance, Isaac Kamalu.

Adangor and Kamalu resigned after Fubara directed that they should be redeployed to the Ministry of Special Duties (Governor’s Office) and Ministry for Employment Generation and Empowerment, respectively.

Earlier, two others, Alabo Dax-Kelly (former Commissioner for Works) and Emeka Woke resigned on the grounds of taking up a Federal Government appointment.

Effectively, with all the nine pro-Wike commissioners exiting the government and the remaining commissioners adjudged to be loyal to Fubara, coupled with the 27 lawmakers already pushed into the defensive, observers expect two fiercely opposed camps in the state not to spare any arrow in the fight.

It was gathered that new commissioners are expected to be appointed in the coming days and will be presented to the three-man Fubara faction of the House of Assembly for confirmation.

The coming days and weeks promise to be intense, considering the tense situation of things already in the state. While the cabinet is expected to act and move faster, it is expected that detractors with deep inside knowledge may join the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the state and begin serious attacks on all fronts.

A former spokesman of the Atiku-Okowa Presidential Campaign Council, Daniel Bwala, has said Fubara is resorting to self-defence in the face of the political crisis rocking Rivers. Bwala stated this in a statement via his X handle on Wednesday.

He accused Wike of subjecting Fubara to intense harassment, adding that Fubara has never been the aggressor in the face-off with Wike.

He stated: “Fubara has never been the aggressor; he was subjected to intense harassment by Wike who goes to Port Harcourt every weekend to harass him; until Fubara decided to react in self-defence. Just to set the record.”

A group, Rivers Social Democratic Group (RSDG), has offered an insight as to why five commissioners resigned yesterday. RSDG president, Belema Green, in a statement, claimed that those commissioners resigned their positions due to Fubara’s decision to probe successive administrations in Rivers.

The group maintained that the decision to beam the searchlights on successive administrations in the state was in the best interest of the people of Rivers.

“We call on the governor not to relent on his move to recover the loot and get the state back on course. No amount of blackmail should deter him. The people of the state are solidly behind him and we shall continue to support his good intentions and laudable policies and programmes, aimed at redeeming the state back to the old glory of growth and development”, the statement said.

Similarly, an elder statesman, Boris Abua, has urged former governors Rotimi Amaechi and Peter Odili to rise in support of the governor to successfully navigate the rising political crisis in the state. Abua emphasised that the political stability and future of Rivers hinge on creating a united front among its leaders.

He said: “I call on Amaechi and Odili to rise beyond rhetoric to the defence of their land of birth from the hands of internal marauders and external forces who are not interested in the peace of Rivers but her wealth. Governor Fubara is not just up against Wike but also powers and principalities in Abuja led by some people in the presidency. It is therefore imperative that all hands must be on deck to navigate the complex political challenges set against our current governor,” Abua stated during a press conference in Abuja yesterday.

IN a seeming move to realign the interests of some stakeholders, the 2023 governorship candidate of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) and one of the main actors in Rivers politics, Senator Magnus Abe, has said the reasons for his long fight in Rivers politics was over following the non-relevance of the former Minister of Transportation, Amaechi, in the current All Progressives Congress (APC) led by Tony Okocha.

Abe, while pleading with his supporters yesterday in Port Harcourt to join him in APC where he returned to last month, said the reason for his long and sustained fight in politics was because the former Minister embarrassed and challenged him and his supporters that they would go hungry in six months and return to beg him.

Abe said: “We have taken a decision that we will work with President Tinubu, the FCT Minister, Wike, and the Caretaker Committee Chairman of APC, Tony Okocha, to bring the desired change in the political landscape in Rivers.

“People were criticising me for reconciling with Wike, I have my reasons. Wike can let go and when he lets go, he forgets the past, unlike others who won’t forget.”

Reacting to the ongoing political imbroglio in Rivers, the Catholic Bishop of Sokoto Diocese, Bishop Matthew Hassan Kukah, on Wednesday, said Fubara and Wike will settle their quarrel, adding that Nigerians always cried more than the bereaved, while politicians fixed their problems.

He spoke to state house correspondents after a closed-door meeting with President Tinubu at the Presidential Villa, Abuja. Initially, Kukah was reluctant to speak on the political crisis in Rivers. Then he said: “We ordinary people cry more than the bereaved.

“The important thing is politicians will fix their problems. Rivers State is a place that is very dear to me because I have been associated with them for a very long period. But look, when politicians fight, don’t get carried away because they have the capacity to fix their quarrel.

“And I hope and pray that Rivers State will sooner rather than later reposition because it is not an insignificant part of Nigeria,” Kukah prayed.