The Rivers State House of Assembly on Thursday delivered a blistering public rebuttal to Governor Siminalayi Fubara, after remarks he made at a road commissioning the previous day. In a carefully staged briefing the Speaker, Rt Hon Martins Amaewhule, spoke for the lawmakers with a tone that mixed indignation and warning.
The message was blunt. The governor had lied to the people of Rivers State. He had also disparaged the Federal Capital Territory minister and elder powerbrokers. Moreover, he was presiding over an executive that awarded contracts and spent public money without legislative ratification.
What makes the current row combustible is not only the heat of the new exchanges but the recent history. The Assembly insists that the governor attended at least two post-emergency reconciliation meetings. These meetings were called by the FCT minister, Nyesom Wike. They included the chairman of the Rivers Elders Council, Chief Ferdinand Alabraba.
According to the lawmakers, the meetings produced commitments that remain unmet. The Assembly clearly told journalists that the governor’s public claim was simply untrue. He had indeed met with them.
The Speaker described the governor’s comments at the commissioning as unnecessary. The remarks are condemnable. He said they risk reopening the fault lines. The president’s intervention had only recently stabilised these lines.
That is no idle rhetorical flourish. Rivers politics has in recent months been a tinderbox. The state endured an emergency rule. A fraught reconciliation was led by federal actors and elders. There has been a fragile resumption of civil governance. The Assembly’s public denunciation reads as both a rebuke and a pre-emptive defence of the fragile peace process.
At the centre of the legislative fury lie two moneyed accusations. First, the lawmakers claim the outgoing sole administrator left the state with N600 billion in the coffers. They cite this figure to demand accountability. They believe there has been an inexplicable failure to deliver on visible public services such as schools.
Second, and more politically explosive, the Assembly alleges that the governor has been awarding contracts. He is also accused of spending state funds without seeking the constitutionally required ratification of the House. Those two claims are considered together. They lead the lawmakers to conclude that something is deeply wrong with the current stewardship of public resources.
Beyond accounting is accusation. The Assembly accused Governor Fubara of disparaging the person of Nyesom Wike by his public comments. The charge is as much about respect for an elder powerbroker as it is about alliance politics.
Wike’s fingerprints on recent reconciliation efforts are widely reported and he remains a highly influential figure in Rivers State. To insult him publicly poses the risk of reigniting patronage battles. These battles have long set the rhythm of Rivers power.
The lawmakers also alleged a far more corrosive plan. They claimed that the governor had designs on using state funds to “buy off” Assembly members. The Speaker’s response was categorical: the members are not for sale. Whether the accusation is a rhetorical shield or an intelligence-driven warning is open to investigation.
Either way, the claim dramatically tightens the political constriction on the governor. If true, it would amount to attempted capture of the legislature. Additionally, it represents a brazen assault on democratic checks and balances.
Governor Fubara, for his part, has not remained silent. In separate statements, he has sought to calm nerves. He denied a rift with the House and said he would meet lawmakers. He attempted to reframe his remarks as normal civic engagement. He also insisted that efforts were underway to tackle the state’s challenges.
That response does not handle the specific allegations of unratified contract awards. It also does not explain the alleged failure to implement agreements reached at reconciliation meetings.
This unfolding dispute has practical consequences for service delivery and governance in Rivers. If the legislature moves to withhold assent, block funds, or initiate oversight probes, routine operations may slow.
The fragile post-emergency budgets would be at risk. Allocations to education and health would also be at risk. Contract pipelines for road and other infrastructure projects would be jeopardized. The rhetoric thus risks translating into administrative paralysis that would punish citizens more than political principals.
What should an investigative correspondent pursue next to turn assertions into verified record? First, trace the money. The Assembly’s assertion about N600bn must be tested against audited accounts. It must also be tested against federation allocations and bank records. This should cover the period surrounding the Sole Administrator’s tenure.
Second, obtain copies of any minutes, memoranda, or written commitments. These documents should have followed the reconciliation meetings convened by Wike and held at Alabraba’s residence. If there were agreed deliverables, establishing what was promised and what was actually carried out is essential.
Third, examine contract award registers, procurement notices, and the procurement laws applicable in Rivers State. Assess whether proper legislative ratification was bypassed. Determine if it was bypassed, when it occurred, and how.
Fourth, probe any claims or evidence of inducements to lawmakers. Look for bank traces, witness statements, or unexplained asset movements. These would be decisive.
Finally, interview frontline officials in the ministries of finance, works and education to understand project pipelines and disbursement timelines. Those documentary and human sources together will build a forensic picture.
There are also political remedies and red flags to monitor. If the Assembly proceeds to launch impeachment moves or seeks judicial remedies to halt disbursements, the crisis could quickly re-escalate. Conversely, renewed, credible engagement mediated by neutral elders and the president’s office would offer an exit from confrontation.
At the moment the actors on the ground are testing the limits of institutional tolerance. They are also examining personal alliances. The president’s earlier intervention bought time; whether it secured durable reform remains an open question.
For readers in Rivers and beyond the stakes are simple. Citizens deserve transparent accounts of public money. They need a legislature that performs its oversight role. It should not cede to patronage or intimidation.
The Assembly’s pledge to “serve the interest of Rivers people and the peace process” reads as sincere. But pledges must be matched with accountability.
If the allegations about unratified contracts and the alleged N600bn figure are substantiated, the governor will need to answer. He will not answer to political rivals. Instead, he will need to answer to history and the state’s long-suffering public institutions. If they are not, the Assembly must produce evidence to justify the extraordinary public alarm it has sounded.
This is an active political story. As an immediate next step, we will seek documentary proof of the Assembly’s financial claims. We will also collect copies of any ministerially convened meeting minutes. Additionally, we will gather responses from the governor’s office and the FCT minister’s team for publication.
The durability of peace in Rivers will depend on sober facts replacing accusatory soundbites. The people of Rivers deserve nothing less.
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